The Great Escape: A Silver Shadows Sydrian Fic
by jajenshadimose6012
Summary: Similar to my previous SS fic, only it's a different method for how they go about rescuing Sydney from Re-education, and it begins earlier in the story with Adrian receiving the intel about Sydney's location, and then he turns to Rose for help in rescuing Sydney.
1. Chapter 1

Nearly three weeks had passed since Sydney's abduction, and I was starting to lose hope that I would ever find her…until one day, I received a phone call from a blocked number, and when I picked up, I was shocked to discover it was Marcus Finch on the other line.

"You've got a lot of nerve calling me," I growled, not even caring about the fact that he had somehow gotten ahold of my number. "Especially since it was your people that hauled away my girlfriend!"

"The Alchemists are_ not_ my people anymore, Ivashkov," Marcus snapped, and I could already hear the patience wearing thin in his voice. "I don't give two flicks of a rat's ass about those sorry sons of bitches. I care about Sydney. I warned her that staying here left her vulnerable to their schemes. Had she come with me to Mexico and let me seal her tattoo, none of this would've happened—"

"Spare me the 'I told you so', if you will, Marcus," I retorted. "I didn't force her to stay. Sydney made her own decision, and I had nothing to do with that—"

"Maybe," he interrupted snarkily, "but you're the reason she's gone. Had it not been for you and your ridiculous, ill-fated romance, Sydney would've had the chance to go on and do so many great things for my people, for the world! She could've brought about so much good, and you are the reason she refused to go through with any of it."

"Is there a reason why you're calling me," I snarled, through gritted teeth, "or do you just have a daily quota of torment to inflict on me that you've gotta meet? Because I don't need this. I've already got enough of my own guilt to deal with without adding yours to it!"

"Relax, pretty boy," he sighed. "I wouldn't have called unless it was important. I've been looking into the system, breaking into Alchemist servers and sending my people in on damn near impossible missions trying to locate our girl, and after weeks of running and hiding—and more close calls than I care to admit—I think we might have an idea of where they're keeping her. Sydney, I mean."

My heart stopped—for just a second—and then jump started again, picking up into overtime, thundering in my chest as I replayed Marcus' words in my head. "You…you found her? Do you…do you know where she is? Is she okay? Are they hurting her?"

"Whoa, easy there, big guy," Marcus chimed in, and I could've almost sworn there was a hint of concealed laughter in his voice. "One question at a time. She's okay." He paused for a second and reconsidered. "Or, rather…she's alive, anyway. Like I said before, they won't kill her. They value Alchemist lives too much. They're just doing everything in their power to turn her back into one of them and compel her into being one of their damn puppet masters again." Even I could hear the disgust and repulsion in his voice as he discussed the goings-on of his former colleagues. "But she's strong. I doubt she'll give into them that easily."

"You didn't answer my question," I noted, dreading the response, but I had to know what she was going through, considering the fact that it was my fault she going through any of it at all. "Are they hurting her?"

"Look, I don't have a lot of time here!" he exclaimed, exasperated, but also pointedly evading my question. That wasn't too promising. "I can't guarantee that the Alchemists haven't picked up my trail yet, and I can't have them figuring out where I am or what I know. If they find me, then any chance we have of rescuing Sydney is gone, just like that. I am your only chance at getting her back, so if I were you, I'd spend a little less time playing twenty questions and a little more time listening to what I have to say. No detail is too small. So shut your damn mouth and pay attention. And you might wanna take notes, 'cause this is going to be one hell of a feat to pull off!"

"Okay," I agreed. "I've got it. So, what do you know?"

"My sources suggest that she is being held in a long-abandoned facility in southern California, almost right on top of the border of Mexico," he explained, after a long moment of grueling silence in which he had undoubtedly been trying to decide whether or not he could trust me with this information. After all, I was a Moroi, and while he might sympathize with my people and not completely loathe us like the Alchemists did, that didn't mean he completely trusted us—me, in particular. "It's about fifty miles or so away from anything. The Alchemists bought it out and took over it several years back, exactly for this reason: so that they'd have a place to hold their 'bad Alchemists', a place that no one could ever find and few could ever get to."

"Meaning what, exactly?"

"Meaning that you can't do this alone…and I'm certainly in no position to offer you any more help," he grudgingly admitted. "I can provide you with detailed accounts of this holding space: its location, its ins-and outs; I can tell you its precise layout and I can even get you in contact with a former Alchemist that used to help run the joint. But even so, with all that information, you're going to need back-up. A hell of a lot more than I can offer you."

"I think I know where I can find some," I said, growing more and more eager with each word that was exchanged between us. Oh, my God, this was it. After weeks of relentless searching and trying to get in touch with Sydney, I'd finally found out something that might be able to help me save her. I might actually have a shot at this, if only I could circumvent the layers of Alchemist security and stage the break-in of a lifetime to rescue her from a place that was on constant lockdown. And there was only one person I could think of that had ever pulled off an escape of such enormous magnitude and gotten away with it: my illustrious ex, Rose Hathaway.

"Thank you, Marcus," I choked out, nearly falling over in relief. "I can't tell you what this means…for you to do this…just thank you so much for doing this for me."

"I didn't do this for you," he said bluntly, and even I flinched at the note of disdain in his voice. "I did it for _her_. Sydney's a good kid, and she doesn't deserve this. She never did. She deserves a chance to be free of the Alchemist chains, to go on and make her mark on the world…and I'm not going to let her little indiscretions with you stand in the way of that. I'll do what I can to help you break her out of there, but I'm in no way doing this for you."

"Understood," I said flatly, not even caring about his preposterous words or the fact that he clearly disapproved of our relationship almost as much as the next Alchemist. "Frankly, I don't care why you're doing it. You're doing it, and that's all that matters. So…get on with it already and tell me what I need to know to break our girl free then, why don't you?"

I had never paid such careful, undivided attention to anything before in my life, but I listened intently to his words, clinging to each individual word for dear life. Until every last intimate detail, all the insider Alchemist facts—their deepest and darkest secrets—I knew for myself. It was seared into my brain, and I tucked away that knowledge for later, knowing that I would need to call upon every ounce of it if I stood a chance at breaking Sydney out of there.

About forty five minutes later or so, Marcus and I disconnected, and I went in to my phone contacts and let out a sigh as I called the one number that I had not willingly called in months. My phone screen lit up, indicating that it was dialing and the name _Rose Hathaway_ appeared on my screen.

Tentatively, I let out a sigh and reluctantly brought the phone up to my ear. Within seconds, a familiar voice picked up on the other end. "Adrian!" I could practically hear the smile in her voice, and even I couldn't help but smile at the sound of her voice—so warm, so cheery, so friendly, despite everything that went down between us. "Long time, no talk. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Rose," I said in acknowledgment, letting out another shaky sigh and grimacing as I thought about what I was about to ask her to do. "I…need your help. I have a favor to ask you. A big one. But, uh…it's more of an in-person conversation. You mind if I come visit you guys at Court? It needs to be soon, like today, if possible. It's an emergency."

"Absolutely," she replied, with no hesitation or uncertainty whatsoever in her voice. "You know me, always willing to help a friend in need. You can hit me up any time asking for favors, you know that."

"Excellent," I said, springing into action before my mind could even process what I was doing. "I'll be on the next flight out."

"Great, I look forward to it," she said, sounding like she genuinely meant it. "I'll see you when you get here."

I hung up the phone, more eager to start packing and get going than to continue with any additional unimportant small talk. There'd be plenty of time to catch up later, but for now, Sydney was losing time, and every second was precious. There wasn't a moment to lose. I had to get moving and get her out of that hellhole. The sooner, the better.

_Don't worry, Sydney_, I thought, desperately wishing that she could somehow hear my thoughts. She couldn't, unfortunately, I knew that. But still, a guy could always hope, right? _I'm coming for you. I'm going to get you out of there, and we'll go away together, just the two of us. Nothing will ever come between us again_.

After all, if anyone had even a chance of pulling off the impossible and rescuing Sydney from this hell, it was Rose Hathaway.


	2. Chapter 2

It only took several hours for me to arrive at Court from the time I got off the phone with Rose to the time I actually set foot in Court, though it seemed to take about ten lifetimes with how anxious I was to get this plan set in motion. Plus, Jill had called me when I was in the middle of packing, having seen and heard everything in the bond and she wanted to wish me good luck and she told me to bring Sydney back safe and sound. And then I received a call from Eddie, insisting on coming along so that he could be in on the plan to get Sydney back—considering how guilty he felt for allegedly "letting" her get taken. I adamantly refused his offer, though, assuring him that I'd be just fine and he was needed here to keep Jill safe. After all, she was his top priority—as well as my own. I loved Sydney more than anything, but there was no way in hell I was going to risk Jill's safety by taking away her best protector for my own purposes here. If all went well, I told him, I'd have plenty of back-up in Rose and hopefully Dimitri, and I didn't want anyone else getting involved in this.

When I denied him, Eddie then tried to convince me to at least take Neil or Angeline with me, just so that he could feel better in knowing he hadn't let me run off completely unprotected, but I fed him the same argument that Jill needed protection a hell of a lot more than I did—she was our top priority in all of this—and I would not risk her safety for anything…not even to get Sydney back, as painful as that was. I was going to get her back or I was gonna die trying, but I wasn't going to let anyone else take the fall for me. Like Marcus had said, it was my fault that Sydney was taken in the first place, so it was my responsibility to bring her back.

My heart rate sped up erratically as we approached the palace with the knowledge that I was getting closer and closer to Sydney with each step I took, and it was only a matter of time before I could hold her in my arms again. _Almost there_, I thought, _almost there! _

The car slowed down once we had reached the palace, and I had flung my door open and put my foot on the ground before the driver could even bring the car to a full stop. He seemed startled by my abruptness, but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he just turned back to look at me and politely addressed me. "Do you require an escort, Lord Ivashkov?"

Not even a few months ago, I would've shot the guy a knowing grin and then offered up some wise-ass remark about how I _always_ require an escort, and I was insulted that he even had to ask…but I couldn't bring myself to crack a joke this time. There was nothing funny about the situation I was in, and I could waste no time in setting to it.

"No thank you, I've got it," I said hastily. "Thanks, Louis." I tossed a 50 to him and then quickly grabbed my bag and was out of the vehicle before he could so much as blink in response. I slammed the door behind me and then started running toward the entrance, only too eager to get inside and get a plan hashed out.

My uncharacteristic haste and scurrying about earned a few startled looks from some passers-by, who all knew me well as the late queen's notorious great nephew, the spoiled rich kid who sat on his ass his entire life and got everything handed to him on a silver platter. So, seeing me in action, actually _running_ of my own free will toward something, no doubt came as a shock to all. I couldn't pay them any mind, though. Sydney was running out of time, and every second I delayed was another second lost.

I came barreling into the throne room and nearly collapsed from how hard I had run up here. I doubled over to catch my breath, which was now coming out in sharp, painful gasps, and clutched at my side, which was cramping up. "Rose," I gasped out. "Rose…where's…Rose? I need to…ugh, cramp!" I tried to straighten up and look for her, but doing so made the world start spinning and my vision became blurred. "I am…seeing spots." I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and brought a hand up to my head until I knew the world would right itself.

"Okay, I think he's trying to tell us something," a familiar voice spoke, clearly amused by my current state. "Quick, get the verbs."

"Shut it, Ozera," I grumbled. "Dizzy or not, I can still kick your ass if I really wanted to." That earned me a snort from him, followed by a muttered, "I'd like to see you try."

"Adrian!" Lissa exclaimed happily, and then she pulled me into a giant bear hug.

"Whoa, cousin!" I staggered back a couple steps and then quickly regained my footing and returned her hug just as eagerly. "Nice to see you too." I chuckled.

"We've missed you so much around here," she said, squeezing me tightly before letting go of the hug and taking a step back. "We need someone around to put Christian in his place. He's gotten rather cocky since you've left."

"Hey!" Rose's voice issued from the plush love seat, where she sat, hand-in-hand, with Dimitri Belikov, her well-renowned, badass guardian boyfriend. "What the hell am I, chopped liver? I put him in his place all the time."

Christian opened his mouth to protest, but Lissa silenced him with a look and chuckled. "Yeah, but it's just not the same without Adrian here. No one can do it like him."

"That's what all the ladies tell me," I said, just because I knew some snarky comment like that was expected from me when I was around them and I couldn't have them suspecting that I might actually be in love with Sydney. I didn't think they would be willing to help me if they knew.

That comment just earned a lot of eye rolls and world-weary sighs. "Oh, Adrian," Lissa said, shaking her head. "Same old Adrian. I really have forgotten just how delightful it can be having you around. As if that's possible."

"I told you time and time again not to take me for granted," I reminded her, "otherwise you were gonna lose me. It's cold and dark here, huh?"

"To say the least," Rose replied, rising to her feet and walking over to where I stood with Lissa. Chuckling, she gave me a hug and patted me on the back a couple times before stepping back and regarding me with a beaming smile. "So, what can I do for you?"

I immediately sobered up as I was brought back to the task at hand. "Um…actually, can we…go somewhere and talk in private? If you don't mind?"

"Sure." She nodded, and then turned back and shared a knowing glance with Dimitri. "You okay here?"

He nodded curtly and rose to his feet and took a stance over by the far wall. "Go do your thing. We'll be fine."

"God," Christian scoffed, "you guys act like you're our babysitter or something. It's rather insulting, I've gotta say."

"Well, in all fairness here, with you here, Christian, they might as well be," I said, offering him my trademark smirk in response to his glower.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" he retorted.

"Lissa, control your woman," I said, inclining my head toward Christian and smiling broadly at him as Rose nudged me toward the door.

"Okay, that's enough out of you," she sighed. "Let's go."

"I hope this is okay," Rose said, her voice almost apologetic as she led me into her shared suite with Dimitri, where they lived together here at Court. Her motions were slow and hesitant as we stepped further into the suite and she kept eyeing me cautiously, like she expected me to have a total breakdown at any given moment.

Glancing around, I could definitely spot the tell-tale signs of their cohabitation—namely, one of Dimitri's old, battered western books sitting on the end table, clothes—both his and hers—haphazardly strewn about the open space, probably since keeping up with household chores ranked pretty low on the guardians' priority list, as indicated by the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. And most telling of all, hanging on the wall as you first walk in, was a picture frame displaying four photographs: one of the two of them standing together outside of St. Vladimir's Academy, where they first met and fell in love; beside that was another picture of the two of them in what looked like St. Petersburg with the fancy cathedral and elaborate Russian-style buildings in the background; below that was a picture of the two of them that was taken at Sonya and Mikhail's wedding; and the fourth one was of the two of them with Christian and Lissa at the wedding.

In the background of that last picture, I could spot Sydney and me dancing, clear as day…when I had boldly approached her and asked her to dance—as a sign of civility and attempted amends between our people as far as everyone else was concerned. In reality, she had just looked so excruciatingly gorgeous that I couldn't stand it any longer. I wanted to dance with her, and I didn't care what anyone else thought. I was too wrapped up in Sydney and my all-encompassing feelings for her; that was all that mattered. All that could matter. All that _still_ mattered.

"If it makes you uncomfortable," Rose continued awkwardly, clearly oblivious to my traitorous thoughts, "we can go somewhere else. I know how hard this must be for you, and I don't wanna make you—"

"This is fine," I said abruptly, stunning her into silence.

"Okay," she said at long last. "Well. Can I get you anything? You've been traveling all day; I'm sure you must be starving—"

"Rose," I said firmly, though I couldn't help the hint of amusement at her frigid attempts at hospitality here. "Really, I'm okay. You don't have to go to any trouble to entertain me or anything. That's not why I'm here."

"Right," she murmured, breathing a small sigh of relief. "That gigantic favor of yours. So tell me…what can I do for you?"

"For me, nothing," I said matter-of-factly. "This has nothing to do with me. This favor is for Sydney."

Rose flinched in surprise at the unexpected mention of our mutual friend. "Sydney?" she repeated, her voice mirroring the surprise her face conveyed. "What about her? She's okay, isn't she?"

"No, she's really not," I returned, in a hard voice, and Rose looked to me in confusion as she waited for me to elaborate. "I'm not surprised Lissa didn't get around to telling you, considering all the other crap she has going on lately," I relented, though I couldn't help the note of bitterness lacing my words. "But Sydney got taken away by the Alchemists about three weeks back, and I need you to help me find her."

Surprise once again registered on Rose's face, indicating she hadn't been notified of Sydney's abduction, but she apparently hadn't hit panic mode just yet. "What do you mean, they took her?" she asked slowly. "Took her where?"

"Off to some Alchemist prison, essentially," I explained. "It's called Re-education, where they put bad Alchemists who grow too close to the Moroi and dhampirs. When an Alchemist gets too friendly with one of us or starts to see us as human—or God forbid—as anything more than evil hell spawn, then they get taken away to Re-education, and…well." I chuckled once, a low bitter sound. "They re-educate them. They use our compulsion, taking it from the Moroi blood they inject into their tattoos, and twist the compulsion to do their bidding. You see, the compulsion put into the blood is very basic and general compulsion, but the Alchemists give the command once the blood has been injected to reinforce group loyalty and remind them that the Moroi are the anti-Christ. But when someone like Sydney is strong enough to fight through the initial compulsion and develops a mind of her own, they slam her with even more compulsion—stronger compulsion—and then they guide the compulsion that we give them and force it to them against us once again." I didn't explain it nearly as well as Sydney would have if she were here, but hopefully, Rose could see how dire the situation was with just my sloppy description of the phenomenon.

"It's essentially like mind rape, you can say," I practically choked on the words as they left my lips. "Mind control in its worst possible form. They are forcing her to believe things she doesn't wanna believe, to do things she doesn't wanna do, to hate the people she really doesn't wanna hate. And they're doing this to Sydney, right now, even as we speak. They took her away, and they're punishing her because—"

My words came to an abrupt halt and my tongue locked up. I couldn't tell Rose everything—even I knew that. If she knew that Sydney and I were together, she would be utterly disgusted. She wouldn't want to help; hell, she'd probably want to just leave her there.

"Because she got too close to us," I said lamely. "And when her sister came in to 'help' balance the Alchemist responsibilities, she wanted to be their daddy's golden child, so she turned Sydney in to their superiors and they took her away. We can't get in touch with her; we've tried everything. I've tried reaching her in spirit dreams, but all I get is blackness, like—"

"She's being drugged," Rose finished for me, having recognized the signs for herself. "Oh, my God," she breathed, closing her eyes and hanging her head in sadness. "Poor Sydney. That is just awful. I can't believe they would do that to her just because—" Her head snapped up and a sudden fierceness and outrage that I recognized well filled her features. "Is she—?" She swallowed audibly and shook her head, not daring to believe her next words. "She's not in there because of _me_, is she? Because she helped me escape?"

_No, that lovely honor would fall to me_, I thought bitterly. Out loud, I just shook my head and said, "No, it wasn't you. It's because…she's grown really close to our group in Palm Springs, just from spending more time around us and starting to see for herself that we're not all the spawn of Satan, anyway. She has come to see Jill as a younger sister of sorts—she really cares about her and she was so great at looking after her and making sure she was safe. Jill's happiness meant so much to her, and she always went out of her way to help our beloved princess. And as for Eddie…Eddie's like the brother she never had…" I choked up again as I recalled seeing Eddie on that awful night after Sydney's capture. Memories played back in my mind and I winced, hoping I wasn't openly wearing my agony on my face.

"Eddie was there," I continued, nearly choking on the words as they passed through my lips, "when she got captured. He tried to fight off her attackers, but…she gave herself up to save him. The Alchemists were shooting at him, and she couldn't bear to let him take the fall for her. So she insisted that they split up and then she handed herself over to the Alchemists so that Eddie could escape unscathed. And Angeline needs someone to keep her in line, and Sydney was always the best at cleaning up her messes."

"Please tell me that's not the only reason you want her back, is to clean up Angeline's messes," Rose tried her hand at a joke, when she was finally able to speak again, but I couldn't find anything funny right now.

"I want her back because she's a good person with a tremendous heart, and she doesn't deserve to be kept prisoner in that hellhole after everything she's done for us," I stated matter-of-factly, somehow managing to maintain that emotional neutrality in my voice, just like Sydney would have done when discussing one of us. She would've been proud of me, had she been here. "She doesn't deserve this, Rose; she doesn't deserve _any _of this, and you know it!"

"You're right," Rose initially agreed. "She doesn't deserve this. And I'm sorry for her; truly, I am. It's not right what they're doing to her, and I wish, more than anything, that I could do something—anything—to help her. But what would you have me do here, Adrian?"

I regarded her knowingly, with mockery and astonishment. "Oh, gee, I don't know," I said sarcastically. "It's not like you staged a break-in to some maximum security prison and wound up freeing a dangerous fugitive for your own personal gain. No, not at all."

"You want me to break in to a highly guarded _Alchemist_ facility and bust her out of there?!" she exclaimed, clearly appalled that I would even suggest such a thing.

"No, I want you to sit here like a panty waist with your thumbs firmly planted up your ass while Sydney continues to rot away in there," I retorted, earning a groan from her.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Her eyes widened in shock as she realized what I came here to ask her to do. "Adrian, you can't ask me to do this! Look, I am sorry for what happened to Sydney. My heart breaks for her, and I really wish I could help her out here, I do. I care about you both, and I would do anything else in the world for you. But you can't make me do this. I won't."

"And why the hell not?" I demanded, struggling to keep my emotions in check and not lash out at her in my anger. After all, this was quite possibly my only chance to get Sydney back, and I couldn't blow it by being antagonistic toward Rose.

"You know why," she said, and I could hear the sorrow and regret in her voice, even as she spoke those contradictory words. She really did see Sydney as a dear friend, and she couldn't stand to see any of her friends suffer…but apparently, even she had limits to how far she'd go to help a friend in need. "If I bust in there, guns blazing, and tear out of there with someone they view as a traitor, the entire Moroi world would be implicated. The Alchemists already think we're creatures of hell; we don't need to give them any more reason to believe that."

"They already believe that," I pointed out. "You sitting here, doing nothing isn't going to change that."

"I know it won't," she agreed, "but you know as well as I do that if I do this…war will be brought down on the Moroi race, and the Alchemists will seek to destroy us."

"They already wanna destroy us," I snapped. "Sydney discovered evidence suggesting that the Alchemists are in it with the vampire hunters. And while the Strigoi might be their priority right now, once they're all gone…we're next. They will come after us and take us down, one-by-one. It's only a matter of time."

"Well, we're just gonna have to cross that bridge when we get to it," she said calmly, "But in the meantime, I'm not going to give them a reason to come after us a moment sooner. We need the Alchemists, Adrian, you know we do. As flawed and fucked-up as their belief system might be in regards to us, they do still help us. They found a safe, out-of-the-way place and helped us to hide Jill. What do you think they would do to her if it got out that we deliberately struck out against them? They would have no reason to help us anymore. Hell, they'd probably go after her themselves just to make a statement. You really wanna risk that?"

"And you're really going to sit here arguing the logistics of right and wrong and irrational risks when you literally sacrificed _everything_ to save Belikov?" I shot back. "I mean, what would you do if roles were reversed and he were the one locked in there. Or if it was Lissa in there. Don't tell me you wouldn't be storming over there right now, ready to tear the Alchemists apart to get them back. I've seen what you're willing to do when the people you love are at risk, and really, this pales in comparison. Don't you think?"

Rose winced like I had just slapped her, and then she shifted her weight uncomfortably under the weight of my scrutiny. "That's different," she murmured, shaking her head in disbelief that I even dared to bring that up. "I did that because…I loved him."

"Yeah, right!" I nearly shouted, as if the concept were oh, so obvious. And then, realizing that I nearly busted myself on my feelings for Sydney, I quickly made amends. "And how'd that work out for you? Pretty good? Because the way I remember it, you wound up getting framed and imprisoned for murder and becoming a wanted fugitive yourself when your friends helped you to escape. And I can't remember, who was there for you when you needed it? Oh, right. Sydney. She put herself on the line and risked everything she had to help you, didn't she? She dragged herself all over kingdom come to help you and Dimitri when she really had no reason to. She was terrified out of her mind about what would happen to her if she was caught. You understand that? She didn't have to help you; she did it because it was the right thing to do. And now, she's the one who's wrongfully being imprisoned, and she needs you to help her. You owe it to her—after everything she risked for _you_—you owe it to her to save her. It's only fair."

"I'm sorry…" she repeated lamely, looking like she was on the verge of tears. "I really am. I'll do anything else for you…but not this. If there's anything else I can do for you—"

"Don't bother," I scoffed, turning away and making to leave. "You've done plenty. Clearly. I'm sorry to bother you with this. I guess I should've just left well enough alone, huh?"

"No, wait!" She came after me and put her hand on my shoulder, jerking me around to face her. "Adrian, please don't go. You have to understand. If this were anything else, I would be there for you in a heartbeat. You know that. But I can't risk bringing war down upon our heads—upon Lissa's head—just to break Sydney out of there. Some things are worth the risk, and some things aren't."

"Oh, so Sydney's not worth the risk?!" I snapped back.

"That's not what I'm saying," she returned. "I'm just saying that this is a lot for us to risk—too much—just to bring her back."

"I see," I said, nodding my head slightly in my anger and taking a step back. "So what would you have me do, then? If it were you—if you were in this situation—what would you do?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "But I wouldn't risk the safety—the future—of my people just for one person. It's not worth it. If it were Dimitri…or even, God forbid, Lissa—" She flinched and pain distorted her features as she imagined her loved ones taking Sydney's place. "It would be hell. It would be excruciating for me to come to terms with, but I would just accept what was. I would find another way—using legal channels—to get them out of there."

I snorted in disgust. "Come on, Hathaway, let's be honest here. If nothing else. I've seen you when your loved ones are endangered and the channels you resort to are anything but legal. Dropping out of school to go after Belikov in Russia, breaking out Victor on the slim chance that you were able to save your guy,, being on the run as an escaped fugitive yourself…Rose Hathaway and legal are two terms that have never really meshed well together, wouldn't you say?"

"Maybe…maybe she'll be able to resist the compulsion," she said weakly, after a long moment's pause, but even I could tell that she knew it was too much to hope for. "Maybe they'll give up if it doesn't work after a while and just…let her go?"

"Not really the way it works," I sneered. "According to my informant, if the compulsion doesn't take, they won't just let her go. They'll kill her. They can't risk having another _vamp lover_ out in the world—they'd see it as too great a risk. You know, kind of like you are now. They think that if she gets in good with us, that it's only a matter of time before she'll be lining up to serve the Strigoi. I give her a couple months or so, and if she doesn't give into them and give them what they want, they're gonna take what they want from her. One way or another, they're going to get it. Even if they have to force it out of her."

Rose exhaled shakily and ran a trembling hand through her hair. "I'm sorry," she repeated for what had to be the millionth time tonight.

"Don't tell me," I returned. "Tell it to her. She's the one you're betraying here."

"Adrian, wait—"

"Spare me," I grumbled miserably, going to leave again. "Just spare me." Once again, she placed her hand on my arm and stood in front of me, blocking my path.

"Adrian," she said, her voice much harder. "Listen to me, please, okay? I might not be able to help her out in the way you want, but that's not to say I can't help her. I can try to help you get in touch with her."

"Oh, yeah? What are you gonna do, call on a favor from Papa Mazur? And all it'll cost me is my soul? No thanks, I'll find something else—"

"No!" She took me by my arms and shook me slightly in her frustration. "Look, you remember when I was in Russia, how that spirit user, Oksana, enabled me to help you and Lissa in that fight against Avery?"

Hearing those names brought up was enough to catch my attention. "Yeah?" I replied, unsure as to where she was going with this. "What about them?"

"You said you can't reach Sydney in a spirit dream because you think she's being drugged, right?" I just nodded, not wanting to go through this all again. "Well, what if Sonya and Lissa were to combine their strength with yours and act as a medium to enable you to penetrate the barrier brought on by the drugs…and then you could have a few moments with Sydney. Just enough to see where she is and how she's holding up. It's not much…but it is something, right? I can't just stand by and do nothing. Like you said, Sydney is my friend too, and I might not be able to rush in there half-cocked…but I can do this for her, if nothing else. I don't know. What do you say?"

I shrugged, contemplating her suggestion and turning it over in my head, trying to see if it would be enough to break through the drugs and reach her. "I say, I'll try anything once," I said, trying my hand at a joke—and failing horribly, if Rose's lack of reaction was any indication. I paused for half a millisecond longer and then gave a curt nod. "Sure. Let's give it a shot. There's no harm in trying, right?"


	3. Chapter 3

One of the many perks to being friends with the queen of the Moroi nation: when she said "jump", people asked how high and then they took the damn leap, no questions asked. It was remarkable, really. All it took was one word from her, and about twenty minutes later, we were all gathered around in the throne room, ready to embark upon this crazy endeavor.

I sat in a perfect circle with Lissa on one side of me and Sonya on the other side, and we had all joined hands and were doing some breathing exercises, all of us trying to force calm as we all knew full and well the incredible toll we were about to bring upon ourselves.

Mikhail stood with his hands resting on Sonya's shoulders—firm and unwavering—ready to catch her if she collasped—which she probably would, considering what we were trying to do here. "Be careful," he murmured, his words just barely above a whisper. "I can't lose you, not again. Just please be careful."

Sonya let go of my hand and reached up to give her husband's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I will be," she assured him, tilting her head back to look him in the eye. He bent down and pressed a gentle, loving kiss to her forehead, and then she released his hand and took my hand in hers once more.

Christian didn't stand directly behind Lissa like Mikhail, but he certainly stayed close by and kept a shrewd eye on her, definitely more than ready to catch her if she fell. Meanwhile, Dimitri and Rose took up positions further outside our little circle, manning the entirety of the room while also managing to keep a close eye on us and make sure we all fared well here. Rose, in particular, was eyeing Lissa with a look of such intensity that it was as if she could hold her friend together with one cursory glance, like she could somehow keep Lissa from falling apart just by willing it to be so.

"This is a bad idea," Christian grumbled, glowering in my direction.

"Nobody asked you, flame boy," I stated the obvious, deadpan. "And we're wasting time by arguing the logistics over here."

"Oh, yeah? Well, tell me, what exactly are we gonna do when we have three unconscious spirit users on our hands here with no way to make it better?" Christian shot back.

"I don't know, perhaps wait for it all to go away?" I suggested. "It'll go away; it always does. And we'll be fine once we've recovered. But we have got to do this. There's no way in hell I'm letting Sydney rot in there for one moment longer."

"If you think for one minute that I'm just going to—"

"Christian," Lissa interrupted gently. "It's okay. Adrian's our friend, and he needs our help. Really, this is a small thing to ask considering everything he's done for us. Don't worry, Adrian," she addressed me now. "We're happy to help you however we can."

"Great," I said stiffly. "Let's do this then."

"Okay," Rose instructed, addressing Lissa and Sonya to try and guide them through this ordeal. "So the way Oksana explained it, is that she acted as a bridge—a medium—between us. She was not actively engaged in the spirit connection, but she lingered in the background passively and strengthened the connection—emboldening it and lending her own strength as necessary. From my own observations, I would suggest sending your own spirit magic into Adrian and meshing it with his spirit to try and strengthen his magic. If this works out the way I hope it does, then it should penetrate any stone walls or barriers the Alchemists have put in place to keep her from us…"

My breathing gradually slowed and evened out as I slipped into the trance I always fell into when summoning up a spirit dream. Then, little by little—slowly but surely—I felt little tendrils of magic trickling into my body and amping up the spirit that was already there. I felt the magic accumulate and grow within me, expanding outward until it had consumed me. It was like I was comprised entirely of spirit magic—I _was_ the magic. I could discern which elements of the magic came from Lissa and which elements came from Sonya, feeling the strength of their magic flow through me and instilling in me the necessary strength and endurance of my own to see this task through.

Once I felt certain I had enough magic to my name, I went ahead and tried my hand at conjuring up the spirit dream, expanding my senses outward and reaching for Sydney. It was difficult, like fighting my way through a raging storm to make my way to her. With the combined strength of my friends, I was able to penetrate the barrier that had initially held me back before with ease…but there were more invisible walls in place that I had to get past. It felt like I was literally pushing against a brick wall and expecting it to come crumbling down. And for all the exertion and effort I was putting forth, I was making no progress whatsoever. Sydney was still hidden from me, and I couldn't figure out how to reach her. Damn it. What was I supposed to do? This was my only chance at reaching her. It had to work. It just had to. I couldn't stand the thought of abandoning her—not now, not ever. Not after all she had done for me. What the hell kind of boyfriend was I if I couldn't even come to her rescue and help her in her time of need? What kind of person did that make me? I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream my rage to the world. I wanted to become someone else entirely—someone who could storm into that compound and break her free without even breaking a sweat.

Someone who never would've let her get taken in the first place. But I guess that's just what I did, right? I was a failure. I let down the people I love. I had nothing to offer this world—certainly nothing to offer Sydney—and I knew it. I was a walking, talking disappointment. A pathetic excuse for a man. A sorry sack of—

I felt a tickle in the back of my mind, and I could feel Lissa and Sonya lingering in the background, exerting even more effort and lending me as much of their strength as they could manage given the circumstances. I felt it from both of them, like they were both standing on either side of me, lifting me up and supporting me through this task. And, together, we shoved with all our might against those stone cold barriers. It gave a little, but still didn't really budge. I could feel beads of sweat forming on my skin back in reality with the exertion, and I knew I was gonna have hell to pay when I got back to myself—whether or not this succeeded. Spirit would come to collect. It always did…

As one entity, we combined our forces—presenting a strong, unified front—and we gave one final hard shove on that barrier…and like that, the walls came crumbling down, and I felt the spirit dream instantly latch on to Sydney—wherever she was—and it pulled her to me. And before I could even register what was happening or make heads or tails of it…

…Sydney materialized before me.

And, horrified, I stifled a gasp at what I was met with.

I hadn't had the energy—or quite frankly, the desire—to concoct a place to hold the dream. I had also really wanted to see Sydney in her current condition to see how she was holding up. I knew she would never tell me the truth if I asked, so I chose to visit her as is—in this very moment—so that she couldn't make up some half-assed lie about how everything was fine and not to worry about her. But now…now that I saw her for myself…

God. It was agony. I probably would've been better off not knowing just how horrific these conditions really were for her. She was right in front of me, cowering on all fours, at my feet…and she was naked and trembling uncontrollably—trembling so hard, she was practically on the verge of convulsion. Her hair—usually golden and wonderful—now hung around her face in thin, wispy strands, and her body—that glorious, beautiful body of hers that I had so admired and worshipped numerous times—was emaciated and sickly looking…like she hadn't been given any sort of sustenance since her abduction three weeks ago.

"Sage…?" I choked out, the word searing my throat as it came out. Agony distorted my features as she slowly lifted her head and met my knowing gaze with confusion, her features filled with a pleading desperation.

"Adrian?" she gasped, looking around frantically—a wild, panicked look in her eyes, like a cornered animal. "What…what's going on? You're here. How are you…? Is this…real?"

Questions I never thought I'd hear pass her lips. I was supposed to be the crazy one out of touch with reality, not her. She was too wonderful for that. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve any of this. And it was my fault. All of it. _My_ fault.

"Oh, my God," I breathed, my voice cracking halfway through, as I collapsed at her side and grabbed her by her arms. "What the hell have they done to you?!" Fury filled my words as I took in the sight of her—or rather, what was left of her—and I came to realize the extent of what they were putting her through. "I'm here, Sage," I assured her, delicately wrapping my arms around her and reluctantly pulling her into my arms. "I'm right here. My God…"

My words broke off abruptly, and I glanced away, gritting my teeth and grimacing in my agony, wanting so desperately for this to be real. I wanted to hold her in my arms for real, not just in a dream. Even now, this provided me a hollow comfort in knowing that I could give her thirty seconds of comfort before she returned to whatever torment the Alchemists had conjured up for her. My throat tightened up, and my eyes burned with the urge to cry, but I quickly swallowed back any tears. I couldn't show weakness in front of her, not now. She needed me to be strong. I had to be okay for her. I had to figure out a way to help her.

"What have they done to you?" I repeated, shaking her in my desperation, trying to rouse some life back into her limp and frail form—desperate for this to just be some awful nightmare, like the ones that had been tearing me out of my sleep lately.

I used to be woken in the middle of the night by nightmares of my great-aunt, Tatiana's, death—bloody, gory images violently ripping me out of my slumber and tormenting me with the knowledge that she was truly gone and was never coming back. But now, those nightmares had been replaced with terrible imaginings of what they were doing to Sydney in this god-awful place. Now, I've got a pretty wild imagination—it kind of comes along with being an artist—and I can imagine a lot…but there's no way in hell I could've _ever_ imagined this.

For just a second, I entertained the fantasy that this really was just another nightmare and that I'd be waking up in my apartment any minute now, with Sydney in my arms. I could envision it perfectly, as if it were happening right now. I could imagine seeing her sprawled form tangled in my sheets and her golden hair mussed from sleeping, and the disoriented look she got when she woke up first thing and she was still trying to figure out what was going on. I could perfectly picture the little smile that would cross her lips as she would meet my eyes and then stretch her limbs out, looking like a beautiful, magnificent feline as she did so. And then, I would make her pancakes and we'd eat breakfast together like we had on that last morning we had together. We'd laugh and banter and just…be happy…

But, no. That wasn't real. _This_ was. And whether I liked it or not, this had to be dealt with. It wasn't going to go away on its own, and I couldn't count on anyone else to make it go away either. This was on me. I knew that. And if Sydney had any chance of escaping these people, it was through me. So, I needed to put my damn emotions on hold—they were no good to me right now—and talk to her now while I had the chance and see how she was holding up. Granted, I didn't need her to say a word to see perfectly clearly how she was doing. But still, I wanted to hear it from her. I wanted her to tell me everything that was going on—everything they were doing to her. There'd be plenty of time to sulk later, but from the looks of it, Sydney wouldn't even have a later if I didn't move quickly.

"Adrian," she repeated, tears springing to her eyes as she tilted her head back and looked at me. "It's you?" She reached a trembling hand out and gently placed her palm on my cheek. "It's really you." She laughed in her delirium. "God, you can't imagine what it's been like. I've missed you so much. I've just been praying—hoping—that you would visit me soon, but I didn't think you could. They keep drugging me every time I regain consciousness…and I thought that would block you out."

"Normally it would," I agreed, resting my hand on hers and reveling in the feel of her hand against my cheek. God, I've missed her touched so much. It was like touching a piece of heaven, just by feeling her fingertips against my skin. "But I can't get into it right now. Sydney, I don't know how much time I've got here, so I need you to tell me what's going on. What are they doing to you? What's it like in there?"

"Oh, God, Adrian, it's horrible…" she murmured, a haunted look in her eyes as she stared off into space.

"As indicated by you sitting here before me, _naked_," I said, gesturing to her in case she wasn't aware of that fact. "They're not…" I felt sick to my stomach, and I knew that if they were assaulting her in _that_ way, I was going to throw up. And then, I'd rip those sons of bitches apart with my bare hands for subjecting her to such horrors…"Oh, God. They're not…" I cast her a meaningful look, unable to speak the words aloud, but she was able to catch the innuendo without me actually having to say the words.

"No!" she hastily assured me. Relief flooded through me at that, and I closed my eyes, grateful that they at least had some boundaries they respected. "No, of course not. They're just trying to, um…rid me of the Moroi taint you've brought me," she said, in a very detached, and matter-of-fact Alchemist-y tone, though her voice was filled with bitterness and resentment toward the people she used to call her own. "They destroyed my clothes and everything I came in with to try to get rid of the 'taint'." She rolled her eyes and scoffed in disgust. "The only thing…" Her lower lip trembled, and her hand drifted down and rested on her now bare collarbone. "…the only thing they didn't destroy…was the cross necklace. The one you gave me. They didn't know it was from you, and they saw it as the only sign that I want to be better and 'escape the darkness'. But they're keeping it from me. They won't give it to me until I admit to my wrongdoings and tell them that I want to 'have the darkness purged from me'. I refuse to give in to them; I'm not giving them what they want…

"But they're relentless. And they're pretty damn crafty in getting what they want out of people," she continued. "They've deprived me of food since my arrival. They give me water occasionally, but the water is drugged, so any time I drink it, next thing I know, I'm face planting on the floor. They're holding me in this cell that's barely big enough to contain me. It allows me to stand up—just barely—and…it's freezing in there. They keep it really cold, telling me that I live in the cold and darkness and the only way they'll warm me up is if I say that I was wrong. I won't, though. God knows I'm trying so hard not to break." She broke off and ran a trembling hand through her hair.

"Oh, God, Adrian…what if I do?" she asked in a small, scared voice. "What if they break me? What if I'm too weak and I give in and just give them what I want? I've stood strong till now, but…it's so hard." Reluctant tears streamed down her face and she wrapped her arms around herself in a protective stance. "I don't want to…I don't want to become like them. Not again, I can't—" she sobbed. "I don't wanna forget you. I don't wanna hate you, and they're trying…they're trying so hard to make me hate you, but I don't want to. I love you, more than anything, and I don't wanna lose that. Please, don't make me lose that. I can't…I can't lose you. You're all I have…all I have to hold onto…all I have to come back to…please, please…"

She broke off sobbing relentlessly and buried her face in my chest, her fingers tightly clutching the fabric of my shirt. I drew her into my fierce embrace, pressing my face against her hair and inhaling her scent appreciatively, the scent I had missed and longed for so desperately for all this time. I choked back my own sobs and cleared my throat in a desperate attempt to keep myself from breaking down. "You won't," I practically choked on the words, and they came out garbled. A traitorous sob managed to escape, and I choked on another one, tightening my hold on her as much as I reasonably could—considering how frail and weak she was—and reminding myself sternly that she was here in my arms now, and I couldn't show weakness in front of her. I could not be weak, damn it! She needed me! Why couldn't I just be strong?

"I swear…" I tried again, a tremulous note to my words when I spoke. "…you will not lose me. Do you understand that? I won't let that happen. I am going to find you. I'm gonna find you and get you the hell out of there."

"Adrian—" she began, but I cut her off before she could say anything else.

"No, you listen to me," I said, my voice firm and bold, leaving no room for arguments. "You are, without a doubt, the smartest, strongest person I have ever known, and I love you for that. You are not going to give into them, you hear me? You won't. You're too strong—you're too good for that. Don't become their puppet; don't give those bastards an inch. I'm coming for you, I am. And I'm getting there as fast as I can. Marcus has been helping me, and we know where you are. We just need to know what they're doing to you—how you're holding up—so we know what to expect when we arrive."

"Adrian, no!" she protested, fear filling her features. "No, you can't do that. You can't break me out. Think about what that will do to your people! The Alchemists will not hesitate to turn on the Moroi if they think for one minute that they staged some grand break-in to free me. You can't do that, not for me. Find another way, but don't risk the safety of your people—of Jill—for me."

"Damn it, Sage, this is not up for debate!" I snapped. "We can argue about it later, but I'm getting you out of there, whether you want me to or not. I'm not just going to stand idly by and let this happen to you—"

"You don't have a choice," she cried, clasping my hands in hers and regarding me with that pleading desperation once more. "And neither do I. Trust me, Adrian, I don't like it any more than you do, and I'm terrified out of my mind of what they're going to do to me…but I can't let you risk yourself for me."

"It's my life to risk!" I shot back. "And you know you'd do the exact same thing for me, if roles were reversed."

"But that's different—"

"No buts!" I said obstinately. "You don't get a say in this, Sage. I'm not asking you to sign me a permission slip here. I am coming to save you, just like you would for me. If the Moroi were keeping me locked up like this, what would you do? Even if you thought it would bring down war upon your people."

"The difference is," she said slowly, "that these aren't my people anymore. The Moroi will always be your people. It's my life against the lives of thousands—millions—of Moroi. If you go through with this and you bust me out, the Alchemists will come after the Moroi. Can you really do that to your own people? To Lissa? To Jill? To Eddie and all your friends back at Court?"

"If that's what it takes, yeah," I admitted, not ashamed to do so. "God, you're always more than ready to sacrifice yourself, but you never stop to think about what that would do to the people you love! Haven't you given you enough? Haven't you sacrificed enough? Think about everything you gave up. Everything you lost; everything you risked. In helping Rose alone, you risked more than any person I've ever met. And now it's only fair for her to return the favor."

"You didn't…" Sydney's eyes widened in horror. "You didn't ask her to help you with this insane mission, did you?"

"Of course I did," I said boldly, agitated that she couldn't see just how important this was. "She owes you more than anyone else in the world. And Dimitri. You risked everything for them in assisting with her escape, and it's only fair that they do the same for you. The guardians are all about loyalty and paying off old debts, and nobody takes that loyalty more seriously than Dimitri and Rose do. They won't let the Alchemists do this to you any more than I will. They're behind me on this, and they want to help." Okay, it was a small lie, but Sydney didn't have to know that. "They aren't going to let you rot away in there."

"Adrian!"

"No, _don't_ 'Adrian' me!" I shot back. "You don't get to 'Adrian!' your way out of this, Sydney. You can say what you want, think what you want, but frankly, I don't care. We pull this off, and you can spend the rest of your life kicking my ass for all I care. I just want you out of there. I want you to be okay. And I won't stop until you're safe. Is that really so awful? And be honest, if roles were reversed here, are you honestly saying that you _wouldn't _do the exact same thing for me?"

I was met with silence as Sydney tried—horribly—to stare me down. But when it came to battle of wills, mine was much stronger than hers right now, all things considered, and I felt her slump in resignation, leaning her body into mine.

"Adrian…" The way she spoke my name was different. It was like she'd given up logic and reason and she just gave in to the emotions and fear and agony that had been consuming her lately. She was very close to me—our faces just inches apart—and her trembling hands moved down and rested on my chest. She suddenly became fixated with playing with the fabric of my shirt. Her gaze was fixed on her fingers, watching with fascination as she ran her fingers slowly—deliberately—through the fabric, and her hands glided along my torso, up and down my chest. Even through the shirt, that touch felt every bit as powerful as if she were touching my bare skin.

My breath hitched, and my heart thudded loudly in my chest. I watched her intently, studying every subtle change in her facial expressions as she continued touching me. She paused briefly before going over and toying with one of the buttons. "Sage…" I breathed, my voice low and husky.

She glanced up at me, almost as if just noticing me there for the first time. She offered me a small smile and unfastened the button she had been fingering, before bringing her lips to mine in crushing kiss. Taking her face between my hands, I returned the kiss with just as much eagerness, thrilled beyond explanation to be here with her again—even if it was just a dream. Her hands fumbled to unbutton my shirt the rest of the way, and I continued kissing her all the while, reveling in the feel of her lips moving fast and hard against mine, her tongue delving into my parted lips and instantly twining with my own, while her fingertips brushed gently along my skin. It was amazing to me how that touch could be so soft and barely there yet so infinitely powerful all at the same time. It was like the fate of the universe rested entirely in that one touch, like she held the fate of mankind in her fingertips and it was up to her whether she would make or break us.

When she undid the last button, she removed my shirt the rest of the way and then ran her hands down along my bare torso with such purpose and deliberation, like she knew full and well the power she held over me and she intended on making the most of that power. Gently, she shoved me back onto the ground, managing to never break the kiss, and stretched herself out against me. My hands took the opportunity to start touching her, taking in every inch of her. It was almost like my hands took on a life all their own as they slid along her smooth, warm flesh, and I took great pleasure in the reaction I elicited in her. Her body began trembling in my arms—in the wonderful, ecstatic way it always did whenever we were together—not in the terrified way it had been earlier. I knew I drove her crazy, and I yearned to drive her crazier still. I wanted to give her one hell of a good memory to hold onto. Something she could hold onto while I continued my search for her. Something that would help her maintain any semblance of self until I could reach her.

My hands began on her thighs, which were currently straddling my waist, and I slowly slid them up, up, up…taking my time in doing so and making sure she really _felt_ every place I touched. When I reached her hips, I gave them a passionate, sensual squeeze, digging my nails in to the skin there, so hard that I knew it would leave marks later. And then, my hands continued The Bodily Tour of Sydney Sage, gliding up along her back—feather-light against her skin, like butterflies dancing along her spine.

She gasped in delight, and I couldn't help the smile that curved my lips. I loved knowing that I had such a powerful effect on her, knowing that one touch from me could just completely undo her if I really wanted to. And oh God, did I want to. I wanted to see the passion and hunger that I knew was lurking in there somewhere. Not a lot of people knew it was in there, not a lot of people knew she was capable of such strong emotion…but I did. And I loved knowing that I was the only one that could bring it out in her.

My hands had now reached the back of her neck and slid into her hair. I used that opportunity to tilt her head back, giving me full access to her throat. Breaking the long, passionate kiss she had just given me, I now trailed my parted lips down her jawline, making sure my hot breath flowed freely against her skin. Then I buried my lips in her neck, alternating between light brushes of my lips and intense bruising kisses—like the ones she had been giving me. At one point, my tongue darted out and started lapping against her skin—over and over and over again—and a soft whimper escaped her lips. Her hands, which had been running along the length of my arms, dug into my upper arms and I could feel her nails digging in, feeling immensely pleased in knowing that I would most likely bear marks there later.

I drew her in even closer, clutching her right up to my body so that her breasts were completely pressed against my chest, and then I rolled us over so that she was now on the bottom and I was hovering directly above her. That passion and desire and love for me burned so strongly in her eyes as she looked up at me, that it caused me physical agony. I wished so desperately that gaze really could just incinerate me because the agony of knowing this would be over soon and I'd have to return to a world without her was too much to bear. I didn't want to go on without her, not for a moment longer. It had been hell without her, and I just wanted to capture this moment in time and make it go on forever.

"Sydney," I said, murmuring her name reverently, like I was uttering the most sacred of prayers. Her eyes, which had fluttered shut, now opened again and fixed on mine. I brought one of my hands up and cradled her face in that hand. The fingertips of my other hand gently trailed down along her throat—down further in between her breasts, and coming to rest down on her stomach, which had instinctively rippled at my touch, knowing no other reaction.

"I love you," I whispered, leaning down and bringing my lips down to hers for a soft, gentle kiss. "And I will not stop until I have you in my arms again—for real," I assured her, my lips brushing against hers as I spoke. "You are everything to me, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get you back. No cost is too high when it comes to you; you have to know that."

She bit her lip nervously and nodded, too overwhelmed by emotion to answer with words. A single tear ran down her cheek, and I brought my lips up and kissed it away, my own eyes sliding shut at the salty taste of her tears—tears that were being shed for me. "I'm gonna get you out of there and bring you back to me," I managed to say at last, as tears once again threatened at my own eyes. "That's all that matters. I'm gonna protect you from those assholes and make sure they never find you again. I promise you that. I don't care what it takes. You understand that?"

She nodded again, and a soft sob escaped her with those words. "I know you will," she admitted at last, looking terrified out of her mind. "I trust you. And I know you won't let anything happen to me. Just…please be careful, Adrian. I can't have anything happening to you either. Not after everything I—" Emotion filled her features again, she wound her arms around my waist, running her hands along my back and feeling every last line and contour she could reach. "Everything I did—everything I gave up—was for _you_. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat, if it meant keeping you safe. I don't care what the Alchemists do to me, but I could never live with myself if they did anything to you. Right now, you're safe. They haven't caught you, and they don't care enough about you to seek you out and punish you like they have me yet. So please, don't give them another reason to come after you."

"I'm not," I told her. "I'm giving them a million reasons to come after me. But I'm not going to be there when they come looking. And neither will you. I guarantee it."

"How?" she asked, regarding me doubtfully.

"Trade secrets," I replied, with that sly smile of mine, earning a head shake from her.

"Oh, Adrian…" she sighed. "I don't know what to do with you sometimes."

"Hmm," I said, my voice becoming husky once again. "I think I might have a few ideas for you. Hell, I've got a whole laundry list of to-do's for you when you get back."

"I'm sure you do," she chuckled, the first time she'd laughed this entire time. God, I'd missed the sound of her laugh. Something told me she hadn't been doing much of it lately, and I longed to bring more light and laughter into her life. She was the type of person who deserved to be happy, and she should've been laughing and smiling all the time. Her smile was much too gorgeous to not be shared with the world, as was her laugh.

Cutting off my musings, she arched her back upward and tilted her head back, her lips seeking out mine once more. I responded in kind, returning her kiss just as hungrily and clinging to her even tighter since I had no idea when this dream was going to end. Hell, it was amazing it had gone on this long. Maybe some higher power felt guilty for dealing us such a crappy lot in life and was indulging us as a way to make up for it. I didn't know, exactly…but I sure as hell wasn't one to mess with a good thing.

I lost track of the world around us as we continued kissing and holding on to one another. In this dream, it was easy to forget the world outside of us—the world where she was captured and I was desperately—hopelessly—searching for her. But naturally, reality had this way of intervening in the worst possible moments. And it wasn't long before I felt my grasp on the dream slip, and the world shimmered around us.

"No!" Sydney cried, her voice breaking as she clung to me in desperation. She wanted so desperately to stay with me—she would've given anything to not go back to her dreadful prison—but she knew it was pointless. "No! No, please don't…please don't make me go back there. I don't wanna forget. I don't wanna go back. I don't wanna leave you!" She cast me a desperate look, pleading with me to make this go on and last forever. God, how I wish I could have. I wanted nothing more than to be able to keep her here with me—here where she was safe and out of the Alchemists' reach.

"Sydney!" I tightened my hold on her protectively and started frantically kissing her everywhere I could reach, almost as if that would keep her here. My hands began smoothing down her hair, and I kissed everywhere I could reach: her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, her lips, her chin, her jawline…everywhere. "It's okay," I promised, though even I had a hard time believing my own words. "It's gonna be okay. I promise, I'm coming for you and I'm gonna get you out of there. You just have to…have to be strong, all right? You fight them, Sydney. You fight them with everything you have." I managed one last deep, heady kiss that left both of us breathless and staring at each other, wide-eyed and gasping in our shared desperation. "Don't forget," I pleaded with her. "Don't you ever forget that I love you, and I'm coming for you. I'll be there soon. I promise!"

I was nearly shouting by the end, but it was too late. She had already disappeared from my arms, like she had never been there in the first place, and the dream dismantled itself before I even had the time to even process that—or grieve for the incredible loss as she was once again so cruelly ripped away from me.

"_Sydney_! _Sydney_!" My soul cried out for her, longing for her return, but it was to no avail. She was gone, and she wasn't coming back. Not tonight, anyway.

"SYDNEY! NO, SYDNEY!" My body was shouting back in reality. "No, come back to me! You don't—don't leave me! No!" I just barely caught sight of the blur of familiar faces swarming in as I lie on the floor, writing uncontrollably in agony—clutching my head and sobbing relentlessly. The world swam around me, and I could feel spirit closing in on me and coming to collect. "Oh, God…God, no…please no…Sydney…."

My voice trailed off, and the last thing I saw was Rose's face—filled with horror and panic—close in, and she said something to someone standing behind me, but I couldn't make it out.

And then, before I knew what happened, I passed out, falling into the luring depths of unconsciousness while I recovered from the toll that spirit episode had taken on my mind and body. And in all honesty, there was no telling when I'd actually bounce back from this one—or even if I would. After everything I'd been through and everything I just experienced with Sydney, the odds didn't appear to be in my favor…did they?

I had been plunged into a pit of blackness and despair from which there seemed to be no return. I fell into a deep comatose sleep with no way to keep track of the world outside of me. As far as I was concerned, there _was_ no world outside of me. No, I was trapped in the torment conjured up by my own mind: the mind, it had seemed, that had finally cracked and given in to spirit after all this time. Huh. I would've expected it to happen much sooner than this. It was finally here. I had been playing with fire—figuratively speaking—for years now, and it had all accumulated and built up within me, a small catalyst ready to explode given the smallest provocation. And now spirit had come to collect...for real this time. I braced myself, anticipating the worst.

...only to receive the best.

I was trapped in this comatose state, being held prisoner inside my own mind with no means of escape...but apparently, I could still dream. I knew instantly that it wasn't a spirit dream of my own creation, because I had felt my spirit magic burn out right as I had fallen unconscious, but it may as well have been. Spirit was apparently fucking with me today by digging deep into my subconscious and giving me exactly what I wanted: Sydney.

I couldn't help but gasp at the ethereal beauty my eyes beheld in looking at her. We stood outside in summertime, with the high noon sun shining brilliantly in the sky—but being that it was a dream, it didn't affect me at all—and wild flowers were in bloom all around us, astonishing me with their magnificent beauty. But their beauty was significantly dwarfed by Sydney's presence and my jaw dropped open as my gaze swept her body appreciatively. She was standing in the grass before me, barefoot, wearing a simple white sundress that fell to about her knees and was made of thin gauzy material, with an elegant yet simple floral design imprinted on the fabric. I recognized this dress, somewhere in the back of my mind. And then it hit me. This was a dress I had admired in the window of a store located in a shopping plaza in Palm Springs...a dress that I had wanted to get Sydney for her birthday, but I lacked the funds to purchase it at the time. Apparently, my mind felt the need to make up for it by manufacturing a dream of Sydney wearing it. Regardless of spirit's intentions here, I certainly appreciated the gesture.

Golden sunlight bathed her, giving her an almost luminous glow, and a warm summer breeze stirred, whipping some unruly strands of hair around her face. Beaming at me, Sydney reached up and pushed those strands back, holding her hair with one hand and smiling broadly at me. My God, that smile...that beautiful smile of hers. I lived for that smile. It had been so long since I had seen it, and only now did I realize just how much I missed it. God, I missed it—I missed _her—_so much.

"Adrian," she spoke at last, regarding me now with a small, knowing smile. There was amusement and I could've worn almost a mischievous glint hidden in the depths of her eyes, like she knew something I didn't. "You look good. Amazing, even."

Glancing down curiously, I saw that I was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of loose khaki shorts that were nice and could have been dressy, but were also quite comfortable. My feet were also bare. I then looked back up and dared to look around us, half expecting a raid of Alchemists to come and tear her away from me once again.

"Sage," I murmured, the mere sound of my nickname for her causing me utmost agony. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and said you picked out these shorts for me, considering your khaki fetish."

She smiled at me again, a small, simple smile. "I did no such thing," she countered. "This is your mind, Adrian. And this is your dream. I have no part in it—no control over anything that happens here. I suppose you're just projecting me into every aspect of your life in any way you can in order to hold on to my memory longer."

"That's a plausible theory," I relented, still looking around curiously, unsure of what to expect here. This wasn't like any other spirit dream I had ever experienced...but there was something strange about it. It certainly had all the makings of a spirit dream and gave off a similar vibe. I definitely knew spirit was playing the key role here, but I just didn't understand what my role was in this particular dream. Was it just like any other dream, a manifestation of my deepest desires...or was it something much, much more than that?

"Yes," Sydney said abruptly, making my musings come to a halt as I turned and looked at her expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

"What?" I asked, when she didn't elaborate.

"Yes, this is real," she assured me, but being that she was some dream-version of Sydney created in my mind's eye, I didn't find her words too reassuring.

"It is?" I spoke the words doubtfully, alternating between looking directly at her and at my surroundings, trying to find the connection. "I see. And how's that now?"

She offered me another reassuring smile and took a step towards me. And then another. And another. Until suddenly, she was standing right in front of me and she had to tilt her head back slightly in order to look me square in the eye. "Well..." She frowned as she reconsidered her words. "It's real in its own sense. Obviously it's not real and happening at this very moment out in the real world, but it's real in that, I'm real. I am Sydney—_your _Sydney...three years from now."

Startled, I took a step back, and her smile shifted, becoming compassionate and she reached out to touch me, but I unconsciously took another step back before her hand could actually make contact. "What..." I swallowed and felt my throat tighten with unexpressed emotion. "...what are you saying?" I managed to say, after about an entire minute had passed. "How is this possible?"

She regarded me with a dry, knowing look—like the ones I used to give her when she had missed something that should've been oh, so obvious and right there in her face. "Are you seriously asking that question?" she asked flatly. "After all you've seen and all you know, you're really going to ask how this is possible, when you, yourself are the very embodiment of the impossible?"

"Fair enough," I said, still a little weirded out. "So...I get to buy you the dress, apparently, then?"

A reminiscent smile crossed her lips as she reached down and smoothed out her skirt, her eyes momentarily flitting down to admire the dress and some past memory that I apparently wasn't in on yet. "That...is neither here nor there, I'm afraid. That's not why I'm here."

I blinked, confused. "You mean you're actually here for a reason, and spirit's not just messing with me again?"

"No, spirit's not messing with you," she hastily assured me. "It's really me here with you."

"And the how of that is...?" I urged, still not accepting this as her being real.

"Let's just say a lot more perks of spirit are going to be realized later on down the road," she said, her voice filled with implications. "You can tap into these, I guess, visions, you can call them. Visions that alert you to impending danger or important details about the past that you need to know. Visions that prepare you for what is to come."

"I see," I said, relaxing only slightly at her explanation of what still seemed too insane for me to comprehend. "And what exactly is the cost of these visions, huh? What toll do they take on me? I mean, am I in the fetal position, a drooling mess on the floor , three years down the line just because I sent you here to tell me all this?"

"No," she sighed happily and took a step towards me, hesitating in doing so this time. "You aren't. We've found a way to keep those nasty side effects under control and let you keep touching the magic."

"And that way is...?" I prompted, still a little uneasy as to this little interaction of ours.

"Not important," she said, almost dismissively. "At least not right now. You'll learn what you need to know when the time is right. But for right now, I'm here to help you."

"Help me, how?" I asked, my brows knitting together in confusion.

She reached out and took my face in her hands, her penetrating gaze burning into me and offering all the comfort and love and solace in the world. "I'm here to help you bounce back from this," she told me. "Spirit has really done a number on you, considering you used three people's spirit magic all at the same time...and I'm going to help you come back from that."

"This is all in my head," I pointed out. "How are you going to help me, when chances are, you're probably just another delusion? A hallucination my mind has cooked up to help me cope with losing you?"

"Adrian," she said, sounding a little hurt by my lack of faith in her. "I am real. I'm not just some figment of your imagination, and I can prove it to you." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily before continuing on. "You are going to save me from the Alchemists." My heart nearly leapt for joy with those words, until I remembered that, again, this was probably just wishful thinking talking. "We're going to flee to Italy, disguised by your spirit, and evade the Alchemists without any problems. We live in a small town where no Alchemists are stationed nearby, and there are several guardians living within a twenty five mile radius in case somebody does show up to help protect us. Lissa's orders. That's for the first two years, anyway.

"And then we manage to slink back to Court unnoticed, and we live there with our friends," she continued. "Alchemists never come there—they have no reason to—and if they ever did or needed to, Lissa would know well in advance, so she'd make the necessary accommodations to have us removed temporarily until it was safe to return. And if any surprise visits emerge, well, we have Abe to do damage control and cover any last-minute rescues. That's Rose's orders." She smiled fondly at the mention of Rose, and I could only imagine the conversation Rose would've had with her notorious, vampire mobster father to get him to agree to this.

"We take care of each other," she added. "And we fight through anything that stands in our way."

"Super," I remarked dryly, resisting the urge to start demanding answers right here and now. "And how do I pull off this heroic rescue of mine, if you don't mind me asking? Because right now, I am neck deep in frustration, self-pity, and no answers, and frankly, I have no idea how to escape any of it."

"Sorry," she said apologetically. "I can only reveal so much...and I can't give that away. You have to figure that out on your own."

"Naturally," I growled. "That's just...awesome." I turned my back on her, glaring angrily off into space and seething with all these problems that I had no idea how to solve.

"You don't believe me?" She sounded so hurt again, that it felt like someone had plunged a dagger into my gut.

"It's not you I don't believe," I returned. "It's this fucked-up mind of mine that tends to run off on a whim at a moment's notice. My mind isn't the most reliable source, especially considering the fact that I practically drowned myself in spirit just moments ago. So I know I'm still recovering from that, and that means I can't trust anything that is said or done in this...whatever the hell this is. Dream or vision or whatever. I'm like the schizophrenic that claims to see the ghost of Elvis everywhere he goes, only instead of Elvis, I see my girlfriend...because I feel guilty that I couldn't save you. I feel responsible for what happened to you, and this is just my mind's way of coping with that guilt. I can't be sure that you're real. I don't know the difference between reality and...not-reality anymore. I don't know! And that kills me. It kills me because I don't know that you're really here. I don't know that you're really my girlfriend, and I don't know how I'm supposed to save you. I don't know what's real here! Do you understand that?"

"Adrian," she murmured my name, and when I turned back around to face her, she lurched forward and captured my lips in a kiss. I instinctively returned it, knowing no other reaction when it came to kissing the woman I loved—whether she was just a figment of my imagination or the real deal. It didn't seem to matter in this moment. All that mattered was that she was here, in my arms, again, and all was right with the world. Everything was—

"_Whoa_!" I broke the kiss abruptly, startled, and looked at her, wide-eyed and gasping. She had just done something magnificent with her tongue, a move that only I knew. All my talents and skills in the bedroom were all wrapped up in this one move, that one tiny flick of the tongue that would break any woman. That one maneuver had been known to make nations fall to their knees. That one maneuver is what made the name Adrian Ivashkov a legend still spoken on the lips of many women to this day.

It was truly remarkable, but the thing was...I hadn't used it on Sydney yet. I'd had no reason to. The bedroom had been plenty satisfying enough—and then some—without me needing to urge her to up her game. "What the hell was that?!" I demanded.

Her smirk turned into something more suggestive, and she leaned her body into mine, running her fingertips along my arms. "Something real," she said matter-of-factly. "Something that you taught me...after you rescued me from the Alchemists," she spoke those last words triumphantly, knowing that they would prove her point for her.

My God. This wasn't...that is, this couldn't be...how could this be—? Tears started brimming my eyes, and I didn't hold back this time. Pain distorted my features as I took every inch of her in and memorized every last detail about her. "S-Sydney?" I stammered.

She nodded and I noticed she was starting to tear up as well. "I told you, it's me. And even though it's been three years, it still kills me to see you like this, you know that?"

I didn't give her the chance to offer up any more words; instead, I wrapped her in my fierce embrace and our lips met once more in another, more passionate kiss. I could hardly dare to believe it, but it seemed to be real. There's no way even spirit would've been powerful enough to create something as powerful and all-encompassing as this, was there?

I hoisted Sydney up into my arms with ease, lifting her up so that her head was actually a couple inches above mine and I actually had to tilt my head back in order to keep kissing her. Her arms wrapped tightly around my neck, and I spun her around in delight, kissing her all the while. We stood there kissing for a long time, having no reason to break away, but when we finally did break the seemingly endless kiss, our lips and forehead were still touching. She looked down at me and smiled, her fingertips lightly brushing the skin at the nape of my neck, and she bit her lower lip in a suggestive way that made me want to throw her to the ground and have my way with her all over again. But I couldn't, sadly. Not yet.

"So..." I murmured, my voice low and guttural. "...you're here. And kissing me. Does that mean you're, like, cheating on three years from now me? Does future me need to come back and kick my ass or something?"

She chuckled. "Something tells me he'd be quite understanding of the situation," she mused. "I think he'll be all right with it, all things considered. After all, you need me, right?"

I nodded and closed my eyes, overwhelmed with the realization that she was real and she was here, even if it was just in my head. "I always need you."

She started running her fingers through my hair, and I didn't even care about the fact that she was messing it up. Hell, I didn't care about anything except her touching me. That was all that mattered. "That's what three years from now you says too. He's always going on and on about how he's always gonna need me."

"Sounds like future me ain't so bad," I noted, quite pleased that I apparently turn out semi-decent, considering the train wreck I had been before Sydney.

"Present you isn't so bad either," she said wryly, with a small smirk twitching at her lips—one that could've come straight out of my playbook. _Oh, yeah, I clearly teach her remarkably well_, I thought smugly, only to have that thought vanish and instantly be replaced with the realization that I didn't have to teach her a damn thing. This was all her. She never needed me to make her amazing; she did that just fine all on her own.

"_Adrian_..." My name sounded off in the distance, distorted and slurred. I glanced around, confused, looking for the source of it.

"Did you say that?" I asked Sydney, earning a head shake from her.

"No," she admitted, "but that is my cue to go. Or rather, that's your cue to go. Me, I'll always be here...lingering in the back of your mind, lending you the necessary strength to see this task through. I'll always be here for you, no matter what. Always remember that—"

"_Adrian_!" My name was repeated by a familiar voice, but it sounded different this time. Hard. Panicked. Frantic. Like someone was desperately trying to reach out to me, but I was too far out of their reach. "_Adrian, can you hear me?! Come on, open your eyes, damn it! Talk to me! He's still not breathing. What the hell is going on? I've never seen a spirit crash this bad before..."_

_ "Well," _another, more reasonable voice answered, and I instantly recognized it as Belikov's._ "He's also never attempted something this extreme with his magic before. That's bound to take its toll on him. I'm sure he'll be all right. Just keep trying to get through to him. It's only a matter of time."_

_ "Maybe somebody should punch him," _another familiar voice suggested, with a little too much amusement for my taste, if you asked me, considering the circumstances. Christian._ "Rose?" he added expectantly. "Go do your thing. If that doesn't work, I don't know what the hell will."_

_ "Christian!" _Lissa's voice added in agitation. "_That is not funny—" _

Just then, I was ripped out of that dream—or vision or whatever—and torn back to reality, where I jerked upright, gasping and glancing around fanatically, desperately hoping that Sydney would be hovering over me, looking down at me with her never-ending warmth and compassion. I should be so lucky. "Sydney!" I gasped out, looking between the familiar faces that were regarding me with concern and panic and a hint of relief that I was awake—and breathing now, apparently. "Sydney!" I repeated, and my heart sunk in despair with the realization that she wasn't here. Not anymore. Hell, she probably never was. "Oh, God..." My heart clenched in my chest, and I felt a cold sweat breaking out on my skin.

"She's not here, Adrian." Rose hovered above me and she reached forward and took me by my upper arms, leaning toward me so that she could look me square in the eye. "You know that. My God," she added, shaking her head in disbelief at what she had just witnessed. "What the hell happened to you?"

Looking around at those concerned faces, I decided to break the tension with a joke, so that they wouldn't suspect anything about my feelings for Sydney. I couldn't have anyone prying—if they knew, I know they would never help me in a million years—so I just forced my trademark smirk and fixed my knowing gaze on Lissa and Sonya. "Well," I said lightly. "I would've bet good money that I'd be the first one of us to go crazy. In fact, I'm pretty sure I placed that bet quite some time ago with one of you, didn't I? I can't remember who exactly, but I think one of you owes me money. Pay up."

"Adrian, you are not crazy," Lissa said obstinately, voice hard and determined.

"Really?" I challenged. "Because I don't see you or Sonya lying on the floor." And just then, I saw the opportunity for another joke. "And I told you beforehand that we should've moved that damn coffee table. I nearly cracked my skull hitting that thing after I collapsed. Just remember for next time." I reached up and clutched at my head to make my joke more convincing. "Seriously, still seeing stars over here."

"That's not funny," Lissa replied, looking horrified by my joke.

"Oh, come on," I teased. "It was a little funny."

"No, it wasn't," she shot back. "Adrian, you are not going crazy. Trust me, 'crazy' is cutting your wrists just to make the pain go away."

"Yeah," Sonya agreed. "Or 'crazy' is willingly turning yourself Strigoi and selling your soul over to the dark side to make the pain go away."

"Oh, yeah?" I said, still keeping that light tone. "And where exactly does indulging in copious amounts of alcohol and nicotine fall into that 'crazy' category of yours, huh? I mean, what does that make me?"

"Desperate? Pathetic?" Christian suggested, earning a sharp look from Lissa that instantly silenced him.

"That's not the healthiest, most ideal method," Sonya admitted. "But you, of all people, know that with our power—with what we can do—there _is_ no ideal method of dealing."

"Sonya's right," Lissa agreed. "Alcohol and nicotine might not be the greatest thing to turn to, but in all reality, you were just coping with what we all cope with every single day...in the best way you knew how. And it's certainly a hell of a lot better than our coping methods were. You aren't weak, Adrian, you never were. You're strong. Probably the strongest spirit user I know. Definitely stronger than Sonya and me."

Sonya nodded her agreement. "There's no predicting what spirit will do sometimes," she said, repeating the party line we'd all been told to make us all feel better about our impending doom. "Lissa and I didn't use as much spirit as you just did, so obviously the toll is going to greater on you. We used a lot, sure, but since we were passively working our spirit in the background, it wasn't as bad for us. You, on the other hand, had the spirit magic of three people working through you...so that means you also had the bounce back of the spirit magic for three people. You essentially suffered the toll it would've taken on us...for us."

Lissa's eyes widened with the realization that Sonya was right. "Oh, my God. She's right. It makes sense. Sonya and I are fine...because you're suffering our consequences for us."

"Awesome," I muttered. "Well. Better me than you two, I guess, right?"

"Adrian!" Lissa sounded hurt by my words. "That's not true. Sonya and I are no better than you."

"Well, tell that to the rest of the Moroi world, because I don't think they're so sure," I grumbled. "After all, I'm supposed to be the good-for-nothing, do-nothing, spoiled brat, Adrian Ivashkov, right?"

"We all know that you're much more than that." Surprisingly, the reassuring words came from Dimitri this time. I turned my shocked gaze on him, waiting for further elaboration, but when he said no more, I just snorted.

"Right," I said flatly. "Good talk."

"Look, Adrian," Rose finally chimed in. "What Dimitri means to say is that you've done so much for us—so much for our people—with the use of your spirit, and others might not see that, but we do. You single-handedly manipulated spirit into the blood of a restored Strigoi in order to make a vaccine against being turned Strigoi. And the vaccine works. You did that! Had it not been for your work with spirit, we never would've had what we do now."

"No," I snapped. "Sydney did that. I might've worked the spirit mojo, but Sydney's the one that concocted the vaccine that worked. Not me."

"She might've done the final part," Rose conceded, "but she wouldn't have been able to whip up that handy concoction of hers if it hadn't been for you."

I snorted in disgust. "Rose, please. Please just...stop sticking up for me. Stop trying to turn me into some kind of hero." She blinked once, confused by my words. "I am not the hero of this story...Sydney is. Sydney's the one that saved our race from decimation; Sydney's the one that gave us a snowball's chance against the Strigoi. And now, she's locked away. Imprisoned by her own people for a crime she didn't commit. And you people won't do a damn thing to help her. Sound familiar?"

Rose flinched at that, and I took great pleasure in seeing her looked pained by my words and the implications they represented. "Oh, no wait," I corrected myself. "You at least had people that helped you. Sydney has no one. No one that's willing to do what's right and stand up for her in a world gone wrong. No one but me. And I can't save her alone. Some hero I am, huh? I can't even save the woman that I— " I cut myself off abruptly before I said something that I would come to regret later. I knew it was too late, though. I had sold myself out. I couldn't tell if anyone read into the implications of my words, though, because Rose immediately steered the conversation in a different direction—notorious for avoiding awkward topics, herself.

"What did you see?" she asked at last, after several moments had passed without a word from anyone. "In your dream," she clarified to my questioning gaze. _Which dream_, I thought bitterly. "What did you see? Did you get through to her? Did you see Sydney?"

"I saw her," I said tonelessly, knowing that if I allowed myself to express any emotion whatsoever, I'd probably break down and wind up pouring my heart out to these people. These people that would never understand how I could possibly love a human—an Alchemist, at that—and how said Alchemist could return that love when she was taught her entire life to be completely disgusted and repulsed by what I am.

"How's she holding up?" Rose asked, and I heard the genuine concern in her voice. She really did care about Sydney and saw her as a friend. Looking in her eyes, I could see how much it killed her to have to sit this one out...but she just couldn't stand the repercussions that a rebellion of this magnitude would bring down upon Lissa and the Moroi nation altogether. "Is she okay?"

"Define 'okay'," I muttered bitterly, unable to help the hopeless desperation that laced my words. "They're keeping her locked in a freezing cold holding cell, naked. She said that they destroyed her clothes and all her possessions when they brought her in because, you know, they were 'tainted'. And somehow, they think that keeping her naked in subarctic temperatures are going to 'purge her soul of the darkness' somehow. They're also starving her—they won't give her any food until she admits her wrongdoings, which she refuses to do because she hasn't done anything wrong. The only sustenance they give her is water, which of course is drugged. They go on and on, telling her to admit she's sinned and that she wants to be better and then they'll give her food and clothes and warm her up...but she's about as stubborn as you are, Rose, though you never would've guessed it. She's never going to give into them, and they're just sitting back and starving her until they get what they want out of her. But they're never going to get it. Not in a million years."

Rose's face darkened as I went on, describing in more detail what Sydney was going through—everything her own people were putting her through to get back at her for getting in good with our people—and I saw the realization smack her in the face. Rose might have been wrongfully imprisoned by her own people for a crime she didn't commit, but she was never treated that badly. Hell, even Victor Dashkov was treated better than that after he had abducted and tortured Lissa to get her to heal him! He at least had sustenance and _some_ comforts. For example, he was never held in a damn freezer.

"Adrian..." Lissa began awkwardly, shaking her head in disbelief at me, while Rose silently seethed over what the Alchemists were doing to Sydney. "My God," she murmured, and I could see how much it pained even her to have to sit back passively on this one. Sydney might not have been Lissa's friend like she was Rose's, but Lissa had a good heart, and she couldn't stand the thought of anyone living in such inexplicable conditions. "I'm sorry," she choked out. "That's awful; truly, it is. I wish...desperately that there was more I could do for you."

"Save me the repeat chorus line," I snapped. "I don't wanna hear it. I don't wanna hear any of it. I'm sick of all the excuses, of all this talk about right and wrong. You people sure seem quick to forget everything Sydney has done for us. We wouldn't have the Strigoi vaccine if it wasn't for her. Rose, you never would've found Belikov in Russia if it weren't for her. She took you to his family; she helped you, guiding you through Russia when you had no one. You had nothing left. And she was a friend to you. And then she helped you escape when you were an accused murderer, because she knew, in her heart, that you never could've done something like that. She gave up everything she had ever known and hit the road with you two, hauling your sorry asses across the nation and keeping the guardians off your ass in the process. She got herself captured and brought to the Moroi Court—a place she was terrified of—so that _you_ could get away. Sydney really cares about you—about all of you—and yet, here you sit on your asses, letting her rot away in that godforsaken place!

"And you know her. You know how she is," I reminded her, my voice growing more frantic with every word I spoke. "She's probably reduced to 98 pounds of nothing already. They won't feed her anything; it's been three weeks. It's only a matter of time before she starves to death. Couple of days, if that. Can you really live with that hanging over your head, after everything she did for you?"

Rose gulped and remained quiet, silently weighing her options as she stared off into space. Mikhail and Christian, too, remained silent, not moving from their positions since this conversation started. Christian couldn't offer much more than a sarcastic comments, and those didn't do us any good right now, and he knew it. So he sat back and let the others battle it out. Dimitri stood back and let Rose and Lissa make the final decision here. I knew that whatever Rose decided, he would be on board with and he would back her up...but really, the final decision here rested in Lissa's hands. If she gave the go-ahead for this mission, even if she didn't officially authorize it, she would be implicated in the break-in, particularly when the Queen of the Moroi's designated guardian left her side and stormed into an Alchemist compound, breaking down doors and kicking ass to break out someone who was seen as a "sinner".

But me? I couldn't get caught up in the logistics and the politics of it all. I loved Sydney, and that's all there was to it. There was no logic or reason when it came to love. I was going to get her the hell out of there—one way or another...with or without their help. I'd use compulsion if I had to. Whatever it took.

In the midst of it all, my gaze drifted over and landed on Sonya—the only one here who knew about my feelings for Sydney—and she regarded me knowingly with a look of utmost pity and sorrow and compassion. She knew how difficult this was for me, but she also knew that there was no easy answer here. We would be risking the entire Moroi future on this mission, for one life. For one person. For Sydney. Was it really worth it? In my eyes, absolutely. There was no question about it. But for everyone else...they couldn't take the chance for one person. Even if that person was the love of my life. Thinking back on Rose's earlier words, I realized they were true. This group of people really would do anything in the world for me, but this was too much. This was crossing the line, as far as they were concerned. And this was the one thing they couldn't do—the one thing they couldn't give me, no matter how badly they wanted to.

It was then that I realized Sonya wasn't the only one that knew about my feelings for Sydney. In that moment, Lissa took a step forward, standing directly before me—all prepared to turn me down again—but then, she stopped suddenly, and something shifted in her expression as she stared at me. I realized too late that she was studying my aura and she could read my feelings for Sydney as clear as day.

Caught off guard, she took a step back, nearly staggering into Christian in her shock. "Oh, my God," she breathed, bringing a trembling hand up to cover her mouth. "How did I not see it before?" She turned on Sonya then. "You knew...didn't you? You knew all along. How could you not tell me this? How...?" She then turned back to me. "How did this happen?"

I shut my eyes and hung my head in regret. Damn it. I knew I should've hid my feelings better. "Can we please skip the whole, 'Oh, my God, how can you love a human?!That's sick and wrong and twisted!' speech?" I asked, and even I heard the pleading desperation in my own voice. I couldn't bear to have my friends look at me in disgust, not after everything I had been through.

"Wait, you love a human?" Rose asked, those startling words snapping her out of her musings. Since she was no longer bonded to Lissa, she couldn't read my aura through Lissa's mind anymore. If she had been, something tells me that she would've been the one to call me out on this atrocious behavior of mine. It didn't even occur to Rose that it was Sydney that Lissa was referring to.

"Look, I've been through hell these past few weeks—only to take another run-through now of my own free will here," I pointed out, ignoring Rose's words altogether. "I don't have the time or energy to argue about this right now. I know that you guys think that me loving Sydney is wrong—"

"You love Sydney?!" Rose exclaimed, shocked and appalled by the words that left her lips, not daring to believe them herself.

"And quite frankly," I continued, in a hard voice, "I don't care. I don't give a rat's ass what you people think. I never have. And whether you like it or not, I love Sydney, and yes, that's why I'm doing this. I can't stand by and watch the woman I love suffer so tremendously—and possibly be killed—when she has done nothing wrong. As _you _well recall," I added pointedly to Rose, who quickly averted her gaze and shifted her weight uncomfortably at the reference to the brief yet disastrous time we had spent dating.

"So yes," I declared boldly, not cowering away from these people or hiding the truth any longer. These people were my friends, and if they couldn't handle my choice of girlfriend, well, they could all just line up to kiss my ass for all I cared. This wasn't about them. This was about Sydney and me. "I love Sydney, and that's why I'm doing all of this."

"Was it..." Rose began awkwardly, finding her voice again after several long moments of uncomfortable silence. "Was it mutual?" she asked simply, though I knew that she was probably dying to explode and unleash a whole new can whoop-ass on me for falling for a human and breaking the taboo of both our races.

"Yes," I said, narrowing my eyes at her accusingly, since I knew exactly what she was thinking and what she really wanted to say to me. "It was mutual. We were in love...and they took her away for falling in love with a monster like me." I nodded my head slightly in mocking agreement, like I could see exactly why the Alchemists would see fit to do such a thing.

"How...how could you let that happen, Adrian?" Rose demanded, finally ready to unleash that Rose Hathaway spiel of self-righteousness on me.

"Are you frigging kidding me?" I shot back. "You're really going to sit here and lecture me on forbidden romances!? _You_, of all people! You fell in love with your mentor while you were underage and still his student—in high school, of all places," I pointed out in case she had forgotten that little fact. "Guardians falling in love is frowned upon in the first place, but while you're in high school—while you are still his student...that's not just frowned upon. And you know it. And I kept my mouth shut back then for your sake, because I knew what it meant to you, and I didn't want to get you guys in trouble by any means. But I could've gone to someone at any time, and you know it. I could've gotten Belikov fired, I could've gotten you kicked out of school, I could've—"

"Adrian," Dimitri interjected at last, taking a step forward and reluctantly placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Rose didn't mean it like that. I know she still cares about you, and if Sydney makes you happy, then of course we want you to be together. She would never wish misery or unhappiness upon you; none of us would. It comes as a bit of a shock to us, yes, just because Moroi and human relationships have been...stopped for quite some time now, and yes, some people might look down on you and judge you for it...but you have to know that we never would judge you for something like that." His eyes flicked over to Rose with his next words and something shifted in his expression, the tiniest hint of a smile playing at his lips. "You don't pick who you fall in love with. That's not the way it works. And sometimes...that means falling in love with someone, even when all voices of logic and reason dictate that it's wrong. But you can't help it. You love them anyway, and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Some things in life we can control. Love...isn't one of them."

I stared in amazement that Dimitri was the one coming to my rescue here, considering our rocky history with one another. I was also amazed because I think that was quite possibly the most I had ever heard him speak—at least directly to me, anyway. Normally, he tended to steer clear of me, ever since the incident with Rose, probably out of guilt, due to his boy scout nature. He knew he had hurt me, and he didn't wanna make matters worse by interacting with me and scrounging up bad memories. He had apologized to me time and time again, and I knew he never meant to hurt me. Neither he nor Rose did. It just...kind of happened. And frankly, I was over it. It happened, and it was done. But regardless, that didn't mean he and I were ready to climb aboard the BFF train just yet.

I exhaled shakily, not really sure how to respond to his little impromptu speech. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful that he was coming to my rescue and defending my relationship with Sydney here, even though I knew that he couldn't have approved of it any more than Rose did. But hell, what was I supposed to do here?

"Thanks," I said finally, shifting my weight uncomfortably under his scrutiny. "I, uh...appreciate that."

Dimitri nodded in acknowledgment to me and then snapped right back into guardian mode, scanning the room for any potential danger, even though I knew that no one had entered the room since we began this little get-together here.

"If you think about it," I began, addressing both Rose and Lissa now, since they apparently were the decision makers of this particular mission, "you dhampirs never would've existed had it not been for relationships like mine and Sydney's. We never would've had guardians; you either would've been born to a Moroi woman and just been full-blooded Moroi like the rest of us...or you never would've existed at all. It might be easy for you people to forget the ways of the past and say it's wrong and we don't do that anymore...but it's not that simple. Because my life...nothing has ever been more right than being with Sydney. She might be human, but come on, are you really gonna be a bunch of bigoted racists and say it's wrong just because a centuries-old tradition says it is?! The books also say that you can't hold the throne anymore if something were to happen to Jill, God forbid. They were going to deny you your spot on the council because we thought you were the last Dragomir. How was any of that fair? And how is it fair that Sydney and I are denied what come so easily to you people...just because of what we are?"

"He's right," Lissa conceded at long last, turning her knowing gaze on Rose. "You know he is. We can't hold it against him based on some thousand year old tradition saying it's wrong for humans and Moroi to be together."

They held each other's gazes for a long time, and even though they no longer shared their psychic bond, I could almost imagine they did. I think Rose had just lived in Lissa's head for so long that she knew exactly what her friend was thinking and what call she was going to make just based on the information given.

"Are you sure, Liss?" Rose asked, waiting for Lissa to give the go-ahead before making any decisions herself. _Amazing_, I thought. She never would've thought twice about going against my great-aunt's wishes—hell, she was notorious for doing just that—but now that her best friend was queen, the whole damn world stopped when it came to Lissa's decisions.

Lissa didn't give her consent out loud, but shortly thereafter, Rose gave a curt nod and turned back to me. "Okay," she said boldly, and I knew in that moment, once she agreed to take on the task, that she was going to follow through with it. "Count me in."

"Me too," Dimitri added, not that that was really any surprise. If Rose was walking into danger, you could pretty much guarantee that Belikov would be right behind her...or probably right in front of her, if he gets his way.

"If you want," Mikhail suddenly spoke up, startling all of us, "I'd be willing to help in any way I can as well. I know that Sydney means a lot to Sonya, and I don't like the idea of anyone suffering so horrifically, regardless."

I nodded my thanks, and Rose chimed in to answer him. "That'd be great, Mikhail," she said. "Thank you."

"So, Liss, do I get to go on this mission?" Christian asked, almost enthusiastically, and I could only imagine how eager he was to set some Alchemists on fire for what they were doing to Sydney.

"No!" Lissa, Dimitri, and Rose all shouted at the same time.

"Absolutely not," Dimitri added, and the hard look in his eyes reminded me that he was Christian's guardian. I had nearly forgotten about that. "No other Moroi will be brought into this mission. It's too dangerous. We can't have anything happening to you."

"Nothing will happen!" Christian scoffed. "I'll just incinerate anyone that tries to touch me, problem solved. And you can't deny that having me there sure would make this raid of yours a hell of a lot easier. I could provide one hell of a distraction while you run in there and bust her out—"

"No!" Lissa spoke now. "Absolutely not, Christian. Are you out of your mind? You are my boyfriend—everyone knows who you are! If those Alchemists see you and it gets back to any of the superiors, then they will know...they'll know that this was my doing. That I gave the okay for a bunch of guardians to tear in there and break one of their prisoners out. It's bad enough that my personal guardian will be there, along with yours. That'll be telling enough all on its own, and we can't risk anything happening to you."

"But I—"

"Christian!" Rose interjected now. "The answer is no. Let it go. We've got this without you. Although, I assure you, your continued support is greatly appreciated."

Christian just rolled his eyes and let out an irritated sigh. "Damn," he swore, crossing his arms bitterly across his chest.

"All right..." Rose turned to me now. "So, where do we start?"

"You might wanna start by calling Daddy, Rose," I suggested. "Something tells me that we could use a couple of those shady connections of his right about now."


	4. Chapter 4

I had been plunged into a pit of blackness and despair from which there seemed to be no return. I fell into a deep comatose sleep with no way to keep track of the world outside of me. As far as I was concerned, there _was_ no world outside of me. No, I was trapped in the torment conjured up by my own mind: the mind, it had seemed, that had finally cracked and given in to spirit after all this time. Huh. I would've expected it to happen much sooner than this. It was finally here. I had been playing with fire—figuratively speaking—for years now, and it had all accumulated and built up within me, a small catalyst ready to explode given the smallest provocation. And now spirit had come to collect...for real this time. I braced myself, anticipating the worst.

...only to receive the best.

I was trapped in this comatose state, being held prisoner inside my own mind with no means of escape...but apparently, I could still dream. I knew instantly that it wasn't a spirit dream of my own creation, because I had felt my spirit magic burn out right as I had fallen unconscious, but it may as well have been. Spirit was apparently fucking with me today by digging deep into my subconscious and giving me exactly what I wanted: Sydney.

I couldn't help but gasp at the ethereal beauty my eyes beheld in looking at her. We stood outside in summertime, with the high noon sun shining brilliantly in the sky—but being that it was a dream, it didn't affect me at all—and wild flowers were in bloom all around us, astonishing me with their magnificent beauty. But their beauty was significantly dwarfed by Sydney's presence and my jaw dropped open as my gaze swept her body appreciatively. She was standing in the grass before me, barefoot, wearing a simple white sundress that fell to about her knees and was made of thin gauzy material, with an elegant yet simple floral design imprinted on the fabric. I recognized this dress, somewhere in the back of my mind. And then it hit me. This was a dress I had admired in the window of a store located in a shopping plaza in Palm Springs...a dress that I had wanted to get Sydney for her birthday, but I lacked the funds to purchase it at the time. Apparently, my mind felt the need to make up for it by manufacturing a dream of Sydney wearing it. Regardless of spirit's intentions here, I certainly appreciated the gesture.

Golden sunlight bathed her, giving her an almost luminous glow, and a warm summer breeze stirred, whipping some unruly strands of hair around her face. Beaming at me, Sydney reached up and pushed those strands back, holding her hair with one hand and smiling broadly at me. My God, that smile...that beautiful smile of hers. I lived for that smile. It had been so long since I had seen it, and only now did I realize just how much I missed it. God, I missed it—I missed _her—_so much.

"Adrian," she spoke at last, regarding me now with a small, knowing smile. There was amusement and I could've worn almost a mischievous glint hidden in the depths of her eyes, like she knew something I didn't. "You look good. Amazing, even."

Glancing down curiously, I saw that I was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of loose khaki shorts that were nice and could have been dressy, but were also quite comfortable. My feet were also bare. I then looked back up and dared to look around us, half expecting a raid of Alchemists to come and tear her away from me once again.

"Sage," I murmured, the mere sound of my nickname for her causing me utmost agony. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and said you picked out these shorts for me, considering your khaki fetish."

She smiled at me again, a small, simple smile. "I did no such thing," she countered. "This is your mind, Adrian. And this is your dream. I have no part in it—no control over anything that happens here. I suppose you're just projecting me into every aspect of your life in any way you can in order to hold on to my memory longer."

"That's a plausible theory," I relented, still looking around curiously, unsure of what to expect here. This wasn't like any other spirit dream I had ever experienced...but there was something strange about it. It certainly had all the makings of a spirit dream and gave off a similar vibe. I definitely knew spirit was playing the key role here, but I just didn't understand what my role was in this particular dream. Was it just like any other dream, a manifestation of my deepest desires...or was it something much, much more than that?

"Yes," Sydney said abruptly, making my musings come to a halt as I turned and looked at her expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

"What?" I asked, when she didn't elaborate.

"Yes, this is real," she assured me, but being that she was some dream-version of Sydney created in my mind's eye, I didn't find her words too reassuring.

"It is?" I spoke the words doubtfully, alternating between looking directly at her and at my surroundings, trying to find the connection. "I see. And how's that now?"

She offered me another reassuring smile and took a step towards me. And then another. And another. Until suddenly, she was standing right in front of me and she had to tilt her head back slightly in order to look me square in the eye. "Well..." She frowned as she reconsidered her words. "It's real in its own sense. Obviously it's not real and happening at this very moment out in the real world, but it's real in that, I'm real. I am Sydney—_your _Sydney...three years from now."

Startled, I took a step back, and her smile shifted, becoming compassionate and she reached out to touch me, but I unconsciously took another step back before her hand could actually make contact. "What..." I swallowed and felt my throat tighten with unexpressed emotion. "...what are you saying?" I managed to say, after about an entire minute had passed. "How is this possible?"

She regarded me with a dry, knowing look—like the ones I used to give her when she had missed something that should've been oh, so obvious and right there in her face. "Are you seriously asking that question?" she asked flatly. "After all you've seen and all you know, you're really going to ask how this is possible, when you, yourself are the very embodiment of the impossible?"

"Fair enough," I said, still a little weirded out. "So...I get to buy you the dress, apparently, then?"

A reminiscent smile crossed her lips as she reached down and smoothed out her skirt, her eyes momentarily flitting down to admire the dress and some past memory that I apparently wasn't in on yet. "That...is neither here nor there, I'm afraid. That's not why I'm here."

I blinked, confused. "You mean you're actually here for a reason, and spirit's not just messing with me again?"

"No, spirit's not messing with you," she hastily assured me. "It's really me here with you."

"And the how of that is...?" I urged, still not accepting this as her being real.

"Let's just say a lot more perks of spirit are going to be realized later on down the road," she said, her voice filled with implications. "You can tap into these, I guess, visions, you can call them. Visions that alert you to impending danger or important details about the past that you need to know. Visions that prepare you for what is to come."

"I see," I said, relaxing only slightly at her explanation of what still seemed too insane for me to comprehend. "And what exactly is the cost of these visions, huh? What toll do they take on me? I mean, am I in the fetal position, a drooling mess on the floor , three years down the line just because I sent you here to tell me all this?"

"No," she sighed happily and took a step towards me, hesitating in doing so this time. "You aren't. We've found a way to keep those nasty side effects under control and let you keep touching the magic."

"And that way is...?" I prompted, still a little uneasy as to this little interaction of ours.

"Not important," she said, almost dismissively. "At least not right now. You'll learn what you need to know when the time is right. But for right now, I'm here to help you."

"Help me, how?" I asked, my brows knitting together in confusion.

She reached out and took my face in her hands, her penetrating gaze burning into me and offering all the comfort and love and solace in the world. "I'm here to help you bounce back from this," she told me. "Spirit has really done a number on you, considering you used three people's spirit magic all at the same time...and I'm going to help you come back from that."

"This is all in my head," I pointed out. "How are you going to help me, when chances are, you're probably just another delusion? A hallucination my mind has cooked up to help me cope with losing you?"

"Adrian," she said, sounding a little hurt by my lack of faith in her. "I am real. I'm not just some figment of your imagination, and I can prove it to you." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily before continuing on. "You are going to save me from the Alchemists." My heart nearly leapt for joy with those words, until I remembered that, again, this was probably just wishful thinking talking. "We're going to flee to Italy, disguised by your spirit, and evade the Alchemists without any problems. We live in a small town where no Alchemists are stationed nearby, and there are several guardians living within a twenty five mile radius in case somebody does show up to help protect us. Lissa's orders. That's for the first two years, anyway.

"And then we manage to slink back to Court unnoticed, and we live there with our friends," she continued. "Alchemists never come there—they have no reason to—and if they ever did or needed to, Lissa would know well in advance, so she'd make the necessary accommodations to have us removed temporarily until it was safe to return. And if any surprise visits emerge, well, we have Abe to do damage control and cover any last-minute rescues. That's Rose's orders." She smiled fondly at the mention of Rose, and I could only imagine the conversation Rose would've had with her notorious, vampire mobster father to get him to agree to this.

"We take care of each other," she added. "And we fight through anything that stands in our way."

"Super," I remarked dryly, resisting the urge to start demanding answers right here and now. "And how do I pull off this heroic rescue of mine, if you don't mind me asking? Because right now, I am neck deep in frustration, self-pity, and no answers, and frankly, I have no idea how to escape any of it."

"Sorry," she said apologetically. "I can only reveal so much...and I can't give that away. You have to figure that out on your own."

"Naturally," I growled. "That's just...awesome." I turned my back on her, glaring angrily off into space and seething with all these problems that I had no idea how to solve.

"You don't believe me?" She sounded so hurt again, that it felt like someone had plunged a dagger into my gut.

"It's not you I don't believe," I returned. "It's this fucked-up mind of mine that tends to run off on a whim at a moment's notice. My mind isn't the most reliable source, especially considering the fact that I practically drowned myself in spirit just moments ago. So I know I'm still recovering from that, and that means I can't trust anything that is said or done in this...whatever the hell this is. Dream or vision or whatever. I'm like the schizophrenic that claims to see the ghost of Elvis everywhere he goes, only instead of Elvis, I see my girlfriend...because I feel guilty that I couldn't save you. I feel responsible for what happened to you, and this is just my mind's way of coping with that guilt. I can't be sure that you're real. I don't know the difference between reality and...not-reality anymore. I don't know! And that kills me. It kills me because I don't know that you're really here. I don't know that you're really my girlfriend, and I don't know how I'm supposed to save you. I don't know what's real here! Do you understand that?"

"Adrian," she murmured my name, and when I turned back around to face her, she lurched forward and captured my lips in a kiss. I instinctively returned it, knowing no other reaction when it came to kissing the woman I loved—whether she was just a figment of my imagination or the real deal. It didn't seem to matter in this moment. All that mattered was that she was here, in my arms, again, and all was right with the world. Everything was—

"_Whoa_!" I broke the kiss abruptly, startled, and looked at her, wide-eyed and gasping. She had just done something magnificent with her tongue, a move that only I knew. All my talents and skills in the bedroom were all wrapped up in this one move, that one tiny flick of the tongue that would break any woman. That one maneuver had been known to make nations fall to their knees. That one maneuver is what made the name Adrian Ivashkov a legend still spoken on the lips of many women to this day.

It was truly remarkable, but the thing was...I hadn't used it on Sydney yet. I'd had no reason to. The bedroom had been plenty satisfying enough—and then some—without me needing to urge her to up her game. "What the hell was that?!" I demanded.

Her smirk turned into something more suggestive, and she leaned her body into mine, running her fingertips along my arms. "Something real," she said matter-of-factly. "Something that you taught me...after you rescued me from the Alchemists," she spoke those last words triumphantly, knowing that they would prove her point for her.

My God. This wasn't...that is, this couldn't be...how could this be—? Tears started brimming my eyes, and I didn't hold back this time. Pain distorted my features as I took every inch of her in and memorized every last detail about her. "S-Sydney?" I stammered.

She nodded and I noticed she was starting to tear up as well. "I told you, it's me. And even though it's been three years, it still kills me to see you like this, you know that?"

I didn't give her the chance to offer up any more words; instead, I wrapped her in my fierce embrace and our lips met once more in another, more passionate kiss. I could hardly dare to believe it, but it seemed to be real. There's no way even spirit would've been powerful enough to create something as powerful and all-encompassing as this, was there?

I hoisted Sydney up into my arms with ease, lifting her up so that her head was actually a couple inches above mine and I actually had to tilt my head back in order to keep kissing her. Her arms wrapped tightly around my neck, and I spun her around in delight, kissing her all the while. We stood there kissing for a long time, having no reason to break away, but when we finally did break the seemingly endless kiss, our lips and forehead were still touching. She looked down at me and smiled, her fingertips lightly brushing the skin at the nape of my neck, and she bit her lower lip in a suggestive way that made me want to throw her to the ground and have my way with her all over again. But I couldn't, sadly. Not yet.

"So..." I murmured, my voice low and guttural. "...you're here. And kissing me. Does that mean you're, like, cheating on three years from now me? Does future me need to come back and kick my ass or something?"

She chuckled. "Something tells me he'd be quite understanding of the situation," she mused. "I think he'll be all right with it, all things considered. After all, you need me, right?"

I nodded and closed my eyes, overwhelmed with the realization that she was real and she was here, even if it was just in my head. "I always need you."

She started running her fingers through my hair, and I didn't even care about the fact that she was messing it up. Hell, I didn't care about anything except her touching me. That was all that mattered. "That's what three years from now you says too. He's always going on and on about how he's always gonna need me."

"Sounds like future me ain't so bad," I noted, quite pleased that I apparently turn out semi-decent, considering the train wreck I had been before Sydney.

"Present you isn't so bad either," she said wryly, with a small smirk twitching at her lips—one that could've come straight out of my playbook. _Oh, yeah, I clearly teach her remarkably well_, I thought smugly, only to have that thought vanish and instantly be replaced with the realization that I didn't have to teach her a damn thing. This was all her. She never needed me to make her amazing; she did that just fine all on her own.

"_Adrian_..." My name sounded off in the distance, distorted and slurred. I glanced around, confused, looking for the source of it.

"Did you say that?" I asked Sydney, earning a head shake from her.

"No," she admitted, "but that is my cue to go. Or rather, that's your cue to go. Me, I'll always be here...lingering in the back of your mind, lending you the necessary strength to see this task through. I'll always be here for you, no matter what. Always remember that—"

"_Adrian_!" My name was repeated by a familiar voice, but it sounded different this time. Hard. Panicked. Frantic. Like someone was desperately trying to reach out to me, but I was too far out of their reach. "_Adrian, can you hear me?! Come on, open your eyes, damn it! Talk to me! He's still not breathing. What the hell is going on? I've never seen a spirit crash this bad before..."_

_ "Well," _another, more reasonable voice answered, and I instantly recognized it as Belikov's._ "He's also never attempted something this extreme with his magic before. That's bound to take its toll on him. I'm sure he'll be all right. Just keep trying to get through to him. It's only a matter of time."_

_ "Maybe somebody should punch him," _another familiar voice suggested, with a little too much amusement for my taste, if you asked me, considering the circumstances. Christian._ "Rose?" he added expectantly. "Go do your thing. If that doesn't work, I don't know what the hell will."_

_ "Christian!" _Lissa's voice added in agitation. "_That is not funny—" _

Just then, I was ripped out of that dream—or vision or whatever—and torn back to reality, where I jerked upright, gasping and glancing around fanatically, desperately hoping that Sydney would be hovering over me, looking down at me with her never-ending warmth and compassion. I should be so lucky. "Sydney!" I gasped out, looking between the familiar faces that were regarding me with concern and panic and a hint of relief that I was awake—and breathing now, apparently. "Sydney!" I repeated, and my heart sunk in despair with the realization that she wasn't here. Not anymore. Hell, she probably never was. "Oh, God..." My heart clenched in my chest, and I felt a cold sweat breaking out on my skin.

"She's not here, Adrian." Rose hovered above me and she reached forward and took me by my upper arms, leaning toward me so that she could look me square in the eye. "You know that. My God," she added, shaking her head in disbelief at what she had just witnessed. "What the hell happened to you?"

Looking around at those concerned faces, I decided to break the tension with a joke, so that they wouldn't suspect anything about my feelings for Sydney. I couldn't have anyone prying—if they knew, I know they would never help me in a million years—so I just forced my trademark smirk and fixed my knowing gaze on Lissa and Sonya. "Well," I said lightly. "I would've bet good money that I'd be the first one of us to go crazy. In fact, I'm pretty sure I placed that bet quite some time ago with one of you, didn't I? I can't remember who exactly, but I think one of you owes me money. Pay up."

"Adrian, you are not crazy," Lissa said obstinately, voice hard and determined.

"Really?" I challenged. "Because I don't see you or Sonya lying on the floor." And just then, I saw the opportunity for another joke. "And I told you beforehand that we should've moved that damn coffee table. I nearly cracked my skull hitting that thing after I collapsed. Just remember for next time." I reached up and clutched at my head to make my joke more convincing. "Seriously, still seeing stars over here."

"That's not funny," Lissa replied, looking horrified by my joke.

"Oh, come on," I teased. "It was a little funny."

"No, it wasn't," she shot back. "Adrian, you are not going crazy. Trust me, 'crazy' is cutting your wrists just to make the pain go away."

"Yeah," Sonya agreed. "Or 'crazy' is willingly turning yourself Strigoi and selling your soul over to the dark side to make the pain go away."

"Oh, yeah?" I said, still keeping that light tone. "And where exactly does indulging in copious amounts of alcohol and nicotine fall into that 'crazy' category of yours, huh? I mean, what does that make me?"

"Desperate? Pathetic?" Christian suggested, earning a sharp look from Lissa that instantly silenced him.

"That's not the healthiest, most ideal method," Sonya admitted. "But you, of all people, know that with our power—with what we can do—there _is_ no ideal method of dealing."

"Sonya's right," Lissa agreed. "Alcohol and nicotine might not be the greatest thing to turn to, but in all reality, you were just coping with what we all cope with every single day...in the best way you knew how. And it's certainly a hell of a lot better than our coping methods were. You aren't weak, Adrian, you never were. You're strong. Probably the strongest spirit user I know. Definitely stronger than Sonya and me."

Sonya nodded her agreement. "There's no predicting what spirit will do sometimes," she said, repeating the party line we'd all been told to make us all feel better about our impending doom. "Lissa and I didn't use as much spirit as you just did, so obviously the toll is going to greater on you. We used a lot, sure, but since we were passively working our spirit in the background, it wasn't as bad for us. You, on the other hand, had the spirit magic of three people working through you...so that means you also had the bounce back of the spirit magic for three people. You essentially suffered the toll it would've taken on us...for us."

Lissa's eyes widened with the realization that Sonya was right. "Oh, my God. She's right. It makes sense. Sonya and I are fine...because you're suffering our consequences for us."

"Awesome," I muttered. "Well. Better me than you two, I guess, right?"

"Adrian!" Lissa sounded hurt by my words. "That's not true. Sonya and I are no better than you."

"Well, tell that to the rest of the Moroi world, because I don't think they're so sure," I grumbled. "After all, I'm supposed to be the good-for-nothing, do-nothing, spoiled brat, Adrian Ivashkov, right?"

"We all know that you're much more than that." Surprisingly, the reassuring words came from Dimitri this time. I turned my shocked gaze on him, waiting for further elaboration, but when he said no more, I just snorted.

"Right," I said flatly. "Good talk."

"Look, Adrian," Rose finally chimed in. "What Dimitri means to say is that you've done so much for us—so much for our people—with the use of your spirit, and others might not see that, but we do. You single-handedly manipulated spirit into the blood of a restored Strigoi in order to make a vaccine against being turned Strigoi. And the vaccine works. You did that! Had it not been for your work with spirit, we never would've had what we do now."

"No," I snapped. "Sydney did that. I might've worked the spirit mojo, but Sydney's the one that concocted the vaccine that worked. Not me."

"She might've done the final part," Rose conceded, "but she wouldn't have been able to whip up that handy concoction of hers if it hadn't been for you."

I snorted in disgust. "Rose, please. Please just...stop sticking up for me. Stop trying to turn me into some kind of hero." She blinked once, confused by my words. "I am not the hero of this story...Sydney is. Sydney's the one that saved our race from decimation; Sydney's the one that gave us a snowball's chance against the Strigoi. And now, she's locked away. Imprisoned by her own people for a crime she didn't commit. And you people won't do a damn thing to help her. Sound familiar?"

Rose flinched at that, and I took great pleasure in seeing her looked pained by my words and the implications they represented. "Oh, no wait," I corrected myself. "You at least had people that helped you. Sydney has no one. No one that's willing to do what's right and stand up for her in a world gone wrong. No one but me. And I can't save her alone. Some hero I am, huh? I can't even save the woman that I— " I cut myself off abruptly before I said something that I would come to regret later. I knew it was too late, though. I had sold myself out. I couldn't tell if anyone read into the implications of my words, though, because Rose immediately steered the conversation in a different direction—notorious for avoiding awkward topics, herself.

"What did you see?" she asked at last, after several moments had passed without a word from anyone. "In your dream," she clarified to my questioning gaze. _Which dream_, I thought bitterly. "What did you see? Did you get through to her? Did you see Sydney?"

"I saw her," I said tonelessly, knowing that if I allowed myself to express any emotion whatsoever, I'd probably break down and wind up pouring my heart out to these people. These people that would never understand how I could possibly love a human—an Alchemist, at that—and how said Alchemist could return that love when she was taught her entire life to be completely disgusted and repulsed by what I am.

"How's she holding up?" Rose asked, and I heard the genuine concern in her voice. She really did care about Sydney and saw her as a friend. Looking in her eyes, I could see how much it killed her to have to sit this one out...but she just couldn't stand the repercussions that a rebellion of this magnitude would bring down upon Lissa and the Moroi nation altogether. "Is she okay?"

"Define 'okay'," I muttered bitterly, unable to help the hopeless desperation that laced my words. "They're keeping her locked in a freezing cold holding cell, naked. She said that they destroyed her clothes and all her possessions when they brought her in because, you know, they were 'tainted'. And somehow, they think that keeping her naked in subarctic temperatures are going to 'purge her soul of the darkness' somehow. They're also starving her—they won't give her any food until she admits her wrongdoings, which she refuses to do because she hasn't done anything wrong. The only sustenance they give her is water, which of course is drugged. They go on and on, telling her to admit she's sinned and that she wants to be better and then they'll give her food and clothes and warm her up...but she's about as stubborn as you are, Rose, though you never would've guessed it. She's never going to give into them, and they're just sitting back and starving her until they get what they want out of her. But they're never going to get it. Not in a million years."

Rose's face darkened as I went on, describing in more detail what Sydney was going through—everything her own people were putting her through to get back at her for getting in good with our people—and I saw the realization smack her in the face. Rose might have been wrongfully imprisoned by her own people for a crime she didn't commit, but she was never treated that badly. Hell, even Victor Dashkov was treated better than that after he had abducted and tortured Lissa to get her to heal him! He at least had sustenance and _some_ comforts. For example, he was never held in a damn freezer.

"Adrian..." Lissa began awkwardly, shaking her head in disbelief at me, while Rose silently seethed over what the Alchemists were doing to Sydney. "My God," she murmured, and I could see how much it pained even her to have to sit back passively on this one. Sydney might not have been Lissa's friend like she was Rose's, but Lissa had a good heart, and she couldn't stand the thought of anyone living in such inexplicable conditions. "I'm sorry," she choked out. "That's awful; truly, it is. I wish...desperately that there was more I could do for you."

"Save me the repeat chorus line," I snapped. "I don't wanna hear it. I don't wanna hear any of it. I'm sick of all the excuses, of all this talk about right and wrong. You people sure seem quick to forget everything Sydney has done for us. We wouldn't have the Strigoi vaccine if it wasn't for her. Rose, you never would've found Belikov in Russia if it weren't for her. She took you to his family; she helped you, guiding you through Russia when you had no one. You had nothing left. And she was a friend to you. And then she helped you escape when you were an accused murderer, because she knew, in her heart, that you never could've done something like that. She gave up everything she had ever known and hit the road with you two, hauling your sorry asses across the nation and keeping the guardians off your ass in the process. She got herself captured and brought to the Moroi Court—a place she was terrified of—so that _you_ could get away. Sydney really cares about you—about all of you—and yet, here you sit on your asses, letting her rot away in that godforsaken place!

"And you know her. You know how she is," I reminded her, my voice growing more frantic with every word I spoke. "She's probably reduced to 98 pounds of nothing already. They won't feed her anything; it's been three weeks. It's only a matter of time before she starves to death. Couple of days, if that. Can you really live with that hanging over your head, after everything she did for you?"

Rose gulped and remained quiet, silently weighing her options as she stared off into space. Mikhail and Christian, too, remained silent, not moving from their positions since this conversation started. Christian couldn't offer much more than a sarcastic comments, and those didn't do us any good right now, and he knew it. So he sat back and let the others battle it out. Dimitri stood back and let Rose and Lissa make the final decision here. I knew that whatever Rose decided, he would be on board with and he would back her up...but really, the final decision here rested in Lissa's hands. If she gave the go-ahead for this mission, even if she didn't officially authorize it, she would be implicated in the break-in, particularly when the Queen of the Moroi's designated guardian left her side and stormed into an Alchemist compound, breaking down doors and kicking ass to break out someone who was seen as a "sinner".

But me? I couldn't get caught up in the logistics and the politics of it all. I loved Sydney, and that's all there was to it. There was no logic or reason when it came to love. I was going to get her the hell out of there—one way or another...with or without their help. I'd use compulsion if I had to. Whatever it took.

In the midst of it all, my gaze drifted over and landed on Sonya—the only one here who knew about my feelings for Sydney—and she regarded me knowingly with a look of utmost pity and sorrow and compassion. She knew how difficult this was for me, but she also knew that there was no easy answer here. We would be risking the entire Moroi future on this mission, for one life. For one person. For Sydney. Was it really worth it? In my eyes, absolutely. There was no question about it. But for everyone else...they couldn't take the chance for one person. Even if that person was the love of my life. Thinking back on Rose's earlier words, I realized they were true. This group of people really would do anything in the world for me, but this was too much. This was crossing the line, as far as they were concerned. And this was the one thing they couldn't do—the one thing they couldn't give me, no matter how badly they wanted to.

It was then that I realized Sonya wasn't the only one that knew about my feelings for Sydney. In that moment, Lissa took a step forward, standing directly before me—all prepared to turn me down again—but then, she stopped suddenly, and something shifted in her expression as she stared at me. I realized too late that she was studying my aura and she could read my feelings for Sydney as clear as day.

Caught off guard, she took a step back, nearly staggering into Christian in her shock. "Oh, my God," she breathed, bringing a trembling hand up to cover her mouth. "How did I not see it before?" She turned on Sonya then. "You knew...didn't you? You knew all along. How could you not tell me this? How...?" She then turned back to me. "How did this happen?"

I shut my eyes and hung my head in regret. Damn it. I knew I should've hid my feelings better. "Can we please skip the whole, 'Oh, my God, how can you love a human?!That's sick and wrong and twisted!' speech?" I asked, and even I heard the pleading desperation in my own voice. I couldn't bear to have my friends look at me in disgust, not after everything I had been through.

"Wait, you love a human?" Rose asked, those startling words snapping her out of her musings. Since she was no longer bonded to Lissa, she couldn't read my aura through Lissa's mind anymore. If she had been, something tells me that she would've been the one to call me out on this atrocious behavior of mine. It didn't even occur to Rose that it was Sydney that Lissa was referring to.

"Look, I've been through hell these past few weeks—only to take another run-through now of my own free will here," I pointed out, ignoring Rose's words altogether. "I don't have the time or energy to argue about this right now. I know that you guys think that me loving Sydney is wrong—"

"You love Sydney?!" Rose exclaimed, shocked and appalled by the words that left her lips, not daring to believe them herself.

"And quite frankly," I continued, in a hard voice, "I don't care. I don't give a rat's ass what you people think. I never have. And whether you like it or not, I love Sydney, and yes, that's why I'm doing this. I can't stand by and watch the woman I love suffer so tremendously—and possibly be killed—when she has done nothing wrong. As _you _well recall," I added pointedly to Rose, who quickly averted her gaze and shifted her weight uncomfortably at the reference to the brief yet disastrous time we had spent dating.

"So yes," I declared boldly, not cowering away from these people or hiding the truth any longer. These people were my friends, and if they couldn't handle my choice of girlfriend, well, they could all just line up to kiss my ass for all I cared. This wasn't about them. This was about Sydney and me. "I love Sydney, and that's why I'm doing all of this."

"Was it..." Rose began awkwardly, finding her voice again after several long moments of uncomfortable silence. "Was it mutual?" she asked simply, though I knew that she was probably dying to explode and unleash a whole new can whoop-ass on me for falling for a human and breaking the taboo of both our races.

"Yes," I said, narrowing my eyes at her accusingly, since I knew exactly what she was thinking and what she really wanted to say to me. "It was mutual. We were in love...and they took her away for falling in love with a monster like me." I nodded my head slightly in mocking agreement, like I could see exactly why the Alchemists would see fit to do such a thing.

"How...how could you let that happen, Adrian?" Rose demanded, finally ready to unleash that Rose Hathaway spiel of self-righteousness on me.

"Are you frigging kidding me?" I shot back. "You're really going to sit here and lecture me on forbidden romances!? _You_, of all people! You fell in love with your mentor while you were underage and still his student—in high school, of all places," I pointed out in case she had forgotten that little fact. "Guardians falling in love is frowned upon in the first place, but while you're in high school—while you are still his student...that's not just frowned upon. And you know it. And I kept my mouth shut back then for your sake, because I knew what it meant to you, and I didn't want to get you guys in trouble by any means. But I could've gone to someone at any time, and you know it. I could've gotten Belikov fired, I could've gotten you kicked out of school, I could've—"

"Adrian," Dimitri interjected at last, taking a step forward and reluctantly placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Rose didn't mean it like that. I know she still cares about you, and if Sydney makes you happy, then of course we want you to be together. She would never wish misery or unhappiness upon you; none of us would. It comes as a bit of a shock to us, yes, just because Moroi and human relationships have been...stopped for quite some time now, and yes, some people might look down on you and judge you for it...but you have to know that we never would judge you for something like that." His eyes flicked over to Rose with his next words and something shifted in his expression, the tiniest hint of a smile playing at his lips. "You don't pick who you fall in love with. That's not the way it works. And sometimes...that means falling in love with someone, even when all voices of logic and reason dictate that it's wrong. But you can't help it. You love them anyway, and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Some things in life we can control. Love...isn't one of them."

I stared in amazement that Dimitri was the one coming to my rescue here, considering our rocky history with one another. I was also amazed because I think that was quite possibly the most I had ever heard him speak—at least directly to me, anyway. Normally, he tended to steer clear of me, ever since the incident with Rose, probably out of guilt, due to his boy scout nature. He knew he had hurt me, and he didn't wanna make matters worse by interacting with me and scrounging up bad memories. He had apologized to me time and time again, and I knew he never meant to hurt me. Neither he nor Rose did. It just...kind of happened. And frankly, I was over it. It happened, and it was done. But regardless, that didn't mean he and I were ready to climb aboard the BFF train just yet.

I exhaled shakily, not really sure how to respond to his little impromptu speech. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful that he was coming to my rescue and defending my relationship with Sydney here, even though I knew that he couldn't have approved of it any more than Rose did. But hell, what was I supposed to do here?

"Thanks," I said finally, shifting my weight uncomfortably under his scrutiny. "I, uh...appreciate that."

Dimitri nodded in acknowledgment to me and then snapped right back into guardian mode, scanning the room for any potential danger, even though I knew that no one had entered the room since we began this little get-together here.

"If you think about it," I began, addressing both Rose and Lissa now, since they apparently were the decision makers of this particular mission, "you dhampirs never would've existed had it not been for relationships like mine and Sydney's. We never would've had guardians; you either would've been born to a Moroi woman and just been full-blooded Moroi like the rest of us...or you never would've existed at all. It might be easy for you people to forget the ways of the past and say it's wrong and we don't do that anymore...but it's not that simple. Because my life...nothing has ever been more right than being with Sydney. She might be human, but come on, are you really gonna be a bunch of bigoted racists and say it's wrong just because a centuries-old tradition says it is?! The books also say that you can't hold the throne anymore if something were to happen to Jill, God forbid. They were going to deny you your spot on the council because we thought you were the last Dragomir. How was any of that fair? And how is it fair that Sydney and I are denied what come so easily to you people...just because of what we are?"

"He's right," Lissa conceded at long last, turning her knowing gaze on Rose. "You know he is. We can't hold it against him based on some thousand year old tradition saying it's wrong for humans and Moroi to be together."

They held each other's gazes for a long time, and even though they no longer shared their psychic bond, I could almost imagine they did. I think Rose had just lived in Lissa's head for so long that she knew exactly what her friend was thinking and what call she was going to make just based on the information given.

"Are you sure, Liss?" Rose asked, waiting for Lissa to give the go-ahead before making any decisions herself. _Amazing_, I thought. She never would've thought twice about going against my great-aunt's wishes—hell, she was notorious for doing just that—but now that her best friend was queen, the whole damn world stopped when it came to Lissa's decisions.

Lissa didn't give her consent out loud, but shortly thereafter, Rose gave a curt nod and turned back to me. "Okay," she said boldly, and I knew in that moment, once she agreed to take on the task, that she was going to follow through with it. "Count me in."

"Me too," Dimitri added, not that that was really any surprise. If Rose was walking into danger, you could pretty much guarantee that Belikov would be right behind her...or probably right in front of her, if he gets his way.

"If you want," Mikhail suddenly spoke up, startling all of us, "I'd be willing to help in any way I can as well. I know that Sydney means a lot to Sonya, and I don't like the idea of anyone suffering so horrifically, regardless."

I nodded my thanks, and Rose chimed in to answer him. "That'd be great, Mikhail," she said. "Thank you."

"So, Liss, do I get to go on this mission?" Christian asked, almost enthusiastically, and I could only imagine how eager he was to set some Alchemists on fire for what they were doing to Sydney.

"No!" Lissa, Dimitri, and Rose all shouted at the same time.

"Absolutely not," Dimitri added, and the hard look in his eyes reminded me that he was Christian's guardian. I had nearly forgotten about that. "No other Moroi will be brought into this mission. It's too dangerous. We can't have anything happening to you."

"Nothing will happen!" Christian scoffed. "I'll just incinerate anyone that tries to touch me, problem solved. And you can't deny that having me there sure would make this raid of yours a hell of a lot easier. I could provide one hell of a distraction while you run in there and bust her out—"

"No!" Lissa spoke now. "Absolutely not, Christian. Are you out of your mind? You are my boyfriend—everyone knows who you are! If those Alchemists see you and it gets back to any of the superiors, then they will know...they'll know that this was my doing. That I gave the okay for a bunch of guardians to tear in there and break one of their prisoners out. It's bad enough that my personal guardian will be there, along with yours. That'll be telling enough all on its own, and we can't risk anything happening to you."

"But I—"

"Christian!" Rose interjected now. "The answer is no. Let it go. We've got this without you. Although, I assure you, your continued support is greatly appreciated."

Christian just rolled his eyes and let out an irritated sigh. "Damn," he swore, crossing his arms bitterly across his chest.

"All right..." Rose turned to me now. "So, where do we start?"

"You might wanna start by calling Daddy, Rose," I suggested. "Something tells me that we could use a couple of those shady connections of his right about now."


	5. Chapter 5

I had fallen into a drunken stupor, basking in the glorious bliss brought on by the buzz and reveling in the feel of alcohol numbing spirit's disastrous effects. Not the smartest move on my part, admittedly, but in my defense, this was the first time I had gotten _this _drunk since Sydney was abducted.

When my initial attempts to reach out to her had failed—in my despair and utter self-loathing—I had turned to my old vice as a way of coping with the guilt and agony, drinking well into the late hours of the night until I had passed out. But as I had suffered through the effects of a god-awful hangover the next morning, I had known how stupid and pointless my little binge had been. It hadn't accomplished a damn thing—all it had really done was give me the worst headache of my life...and all my problems were still there, ready and waiting to be solved when I had sobered up.

It was stupid, and I had instantly known that I shouldn't have done it. Not because Jill had to suffer through the consequences of my reckless decisions right alongside me. Not because Sydney wouldn't have approved of me searching for the answers to her rescue at the bottom of a bottle. And not just because of the wicked hangover that I had to deal with as a result. But I shouldn't have done it...because it was wrong. It was stupid and selfish and cowardly, and no good had come out of it—aside from an okay night's sleep.

That wasn't to say that I didn't care about what Sydney would've thought—I did. Hell, even now, I could imagine exactly what she would say—what she would do—if she were here right now with me. I could perfectly envision the grim, tight set of her lips, the disapproval shining in her otherwise sympathetic eyes as she struggled to find the ideal way to help me, the disappointment radiating off of her in palpable waves as she tried to talk me through this last spirit episode.

I could even hear her voice in my head, clear as a bell: "_Oh, Adrian_..." She would say, slipping a comforting arm around my shoulders and drawing me to her. Her eyes would gaze into mine, full of pity and love and warmth and support...and she would never, in a million years have guessed that her arm around my shoulder was the only thing holding me upright. The only thing that was keeping me from shattering to a million pieces. The only thing holding me together and making me whole once again.

"_Not again_," she would say grimly. "_Why_?" She would plead. "_Why do you insist on doing this to yourself? You know you're better than that. You're stronger than this_."

Letting out a shaky sigh as tears began brimming in my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time today, I contemplated what my response would be to that, but every answer I could come up with sounded lame and pathetic, even to myself in this intoxicated state. I think that, in itself, was pretty telling about the sheer stupidity of my decision to let myself be brought to this point.

My trembling hand reached up and closed around the thin metal chain I always wore lately, my fingers tightly clasping the crystal statue hanging around my neck: the Callistana, a small crystal dragon—or rather, a lower class benign demon, to be more accurate—that Sydney had conjured back when she was being hunted down by an evil sorceress dead set on taking Sydney's extraordinary powers for herself, which would've left Sydney in an irreversible comatose state.

Hopper, as Sydney had so wisely named the creature, was an unofficial darling love child of sorts to Sydney and me, conjured up from another realm of existence to help Sydney be able to detect evil magic. I had been there when Sydney summoned him, and as a result, he instantly bonded to both of us, which meant he had to spend equal time with both her and me in order to maintain his health. Obviously, he couldn't spend any time with Sydney lately, all things considered, so I felt responsible for him. It was up to me to keep him safe, inasmuch as I could, til we got Sydney back.

I kept him on a silver chain around my neck and hadn't left his side for one instant since Sydney's disappearance. He was stuck in statue form since Sydney was the only one that could transform him back into a dragon, but he still drew strength just from being near me. It would've been better if he could both come out into dragon from _and_ be around Sydney, but since I couldn't give him that, I guess he would just have to take what he could get. And I was better than nothing, apparently...for some inexplicable reason that escaped me.

I held the small statue in my hand for a long moment, keeping my fingers tightly wrapped around Hopper, and a traitorous tear finally managed to escape as I thought about how much he especially had to be suffering right now with Sydney being away. Poor little guy. I couldn't "feel" him magically, like Sydney could, since she worked human magic and I worked vampire magic, but I could only imagine how hard this was on Hopper, seeing as his loving and devoted "mother" was away, being viciously tortured at the moment.

"Sorry, Sage," I choked out, tucking Hopper back into my t-shirt and concealing him from the world, like Sydney would've wanted me to. "Sometimes you've gotta take one for the team."

And with those words, I drank another shot of double vodka, momentarily thinking that I probably should've had the bartender make that one a triple. Swallowing hard, I grimaced slightly at the bitter taste, ignoring the searing pain in my throat, and slammed the glass down hard on the bar.

Almost as if on cue, the bartender glanced up at me expectantly and I nodded in response, gesturing for another refill. "Make it a triple this time," I said, my voice flat and emotionless. I desperately needed to drown out spirit and get a moment—just one damn moment of peace, where I wasn't constantly being burdened down by the weight of the world. It was certainly a crushing weight to carry on my shoulders—a cross that I wasn't sure I had the strength to bear.

_Plus_, I thought triumphantly to myself, _at least I'm still steering clear of cigarettes and upholding my promise to not smoke anymore_. I was trying to make myself feel better here, but even I couldn't help but notice how defensive I sounded even in my own head.

Regardless of my faults and weaknesses, though, I was quite proud of my ability to withstand the urge to smoke, all things considered. Even though the part of me that would always crave nicotine screamed at me to go out and buy a whole damn carton of cigarettes and just put an end to my misery—just for that one moment of peace—I stood strong and pushed down that desire, refusing to let myself go there, considering I was already breaking a promise to Sydney here just by drinking.

The bartender came over just then and poured my triple shot of vodka, and I took it from him gratefully and quickly knocked back the drink, coughing this time as I lowered the glass from my lips and set it back on the bar—much slower this time.

"_You've taken far too many for the team, Adrian_," that inner Sydney voice pointed out, and I flinched at the heart-wrenching agony in her voice. "_Please...please, don't do this to yourself. Not because of me. I can't stand to see you like this_..."

"Really?" a familiar voice reproached from behind me, cutting off anything else that invisible Sydney would've added. I slowly spun around to face the newcomer, taking great care to not fall off the bar stool in the process, and saw Rose standing there, hands on her hips and eyes flashing with disbelief, as she took in my disheveled, intoxicated appearance. "It's 10:00 in the morning!"

"Eh." I gave careless shrug. "It's Cinco de Mayo somewhere, little dhampir."

"Mm, clearly," she said, voice hard and disapproving. "I thought I might find you here." She sighed and took the seat beside me, taking off her jacket and placing it on the bar beside her. "I hoped I wouldn't, though."

"Oh, unclench, would you?" I scoffed. "I'm fine. Besides, in the Moroi world, it's technically 10:00 at night, so I don't get what the big deal is."

"You've been living among humans for the past several months," she pointed out. "So 10:00 in the morning is _actually_ 10:00 in the morning for you."

I grunted noncommittally. "Technicalities."

"Adrian," she said, all seriousness now. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I am doing? I asked, accepting yet another shot from the bartender. "I am trying to stop myself from feeling the like the failure that I am." I knocked back this drink as well and squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I felt my buzz growing stronger, further numbing spirit within me and helping me to see the world just a little bit more clearly than I had been just moments ago.

"You're _not_ a failure," she adamantly insisted. "It is not your fault that Sydney—"

"I am her boyfriend," I interjected, before she could offer up any more assurances. "It was my job to protect her from the Alchemists. I promised her that I'd never let anything happen to her, that I'd keep her safe from them. And see at that, my friend...I am a failure." I then reached for the bottle of vodka that the bartender had left on the bar next to me while he tended to other customers so that I could pour myself another drink, but Rose had much faster reflexes than me and she reached it first. Damn guardian reflexes, anyway.

"All right, that's enough," Rose said bluntly, moving the bottle out of my reach and then turning back to look me square in the eye. "I'm not gonna listen to this. You are a good person, Adrian, with a tremendous heart—and I know that Sydney would never want you to—"

"No, you still don't get it, do you?" I demanded, cutting off her useless reassurances. "This is happening because of me! Because I fell in love with her...and now, she's suffering the consequences because I couldn't keep my frigging mouth shut. Had I never copped to my feelings for her in the first place, she never would've fallen for me and she never would've gotten taken away by the Alchemists."

"You can't know that, Adrian," Rose said at last, clearly not sure what she could say to make matters better for me right now.

"No, no, I do," I protested, my words starting to slur. "Those Alchemists are persistent little bastards, and they wouldn't have stopped until they had her locked away for cavorting around with a creature of hell such as myself." I gestured to myself grandly. "You know how 'they' are." Venom dripped off the word "they" and the bitterness in my voice astonished even me. "I think they'd much rather she breed with a goat than with me, God forbid."

Rose grimaced at that image and then let out an agitated sigh. "I _meant _that you can't know for a fact that she wouldn't have fallen in love with you. Do you really think that if you had buried your feelings and not expressed them to her that she wouldn't have fallen for you in return at some point?"

"Oh, I think we're pretty damn sure," I returned obstinately. "Not that it makes a difference, anyway. Regardless of what she felt—what she _feels_...I never should have approached her in the first place. I knew. I knew exactly what would happen to her if we were caught, but that wasn't enough to stop me. I was selfish and reckless and—"

"You were in love with her," Rose interjected, simply stating the obvious as if that somehow magically made everything better. "Plain and simple. Take it from someone who knows, you can't sit on your feelings forever. They'll tear you up inside...rip you apart until there's nothing left." When I didn't offer up a response, Rose continued on in her futile attempts to help me get past the guilt. "You know, if something like this had stood in the way of Dimitri and I being together..." she began slowly, "...no way that would've stopped us. You do what you have to do when it comes to love. You face what you have to face, and you kick it in the ass. But you can't just give up. Yes, it's a risk—love always is—but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't take that chance just because something _could _happen. If anything, that should give you all the more reason to push forward and take that chance.

"I risked everything for Dimitri," she pointed out, "and he risked everything for me in return. We wouldn't have it any other way. And if we had to do it all over again, we would've made the exact same call. Because the inexplicable joy and happiness that you find in that other person...it's worth it. It's hard, and it hurts like hell, but it's worth it."

"Well, that's just great for you two, "I muttered, trying to conceal the bitterness in my voice. "But the difference is you actually got your happy ending. What did I get? Where's my grand prize in all of this? All I've got is the woman I love locked away, enduring unspeakable torture and God only knows what...and I have to live with the fact that I put her there. With my choices. She never should've been there to begin with, and I could've saved her from that, had I just left her the hell alone. So what, you wanna give me a cookie? You wanna have a damn trophy made in my honor? Huh, what? Nothing you say is going to make this okay."

"Adrian..." she said at last, nearly choking on the word as it left her lips. She shook her head sadly, and pain distorted her features as she realized just how hard this was for me to come to terms with. "You know that we're going to get her back, right? I promise you that, we are going to find her, and when we do, we will do whatever it takes to protect you guys. We would never let anything happen to either one of you. You have my word."

My answering silence spoke legions for me. I knew she had good intentions here, but I couldn't bring myself to utter another word. I had nothing to say; nothing that would've made this situation better—or that would've made me feel less pathetic. And Rose, apparently, had run out of inspirational speeches, because she fell silent as well after that.

We sat there in unbearable silence for a long moment, both of us waiting for the other person to say something to shed some light on the situation. But nothing came. Nothing could be said. This was a difficult situation for both of us, and it wasn't going to go away or resolve itself with well-meant words or half-assed reassurances.

"Why does it have to be so hard?" I asked at long last, mostly to myself—to the universe—than to her.

Rose jumped at the sound of my voice and cast me a startled look, clearly not expecting another word out of me tonight. I hadn't expected an answer out of her, but apparently, she felt inclined to give me one—to offer me something to help ease my troubled conscience. "Maybe because that makes you appreciate what you have all the more," she suggested.

"Are you saying that I don't appreciate Sydney?"

"Not at all," she said solemnly. "I'm just saying that it's easy to take the ones we love for granted sometimes. I know I took Dimitri for granted for a long time there. I just foolishly assumed that he'd always be there, and it wasn't until I lost him and got him back that I really appreciated what he and I had. I'm not saying I liked it by any means, and if I had to go the rest of my life without ever being apart again, I certainly wouldn't be complaining. But every second we've spent apart just strengthened us—both individually and as a couple—and we're all the better off for it in the end.

"Granted, it's not always easy to see the reasoning behind suffering sometimes, particularly when that means losing someone you love—particularly under such tragic, horrible circumstances. But you'll get there some day, and you'll both be even stronger when all is said and done. And nothing will ever be able to take that away from you—not the Alchemists, not the Moroi, nobody."

"You make it all sound so simple," I observed, earning a dry, humorless laugh from her.

"Oh, it's not simple," she laughed. "It's not simple at all. In fact, it's really, really hard. It's _excruciating_. But it is worth it. I can promise you that, if nothing else."

"I didn't understand before," I admitted, in a small voice, narrowing my eyes in thought as I thought back to my ill-fated breakup with Rose. Back then, it had seemed like the end of the world, but now...it felt like ten lifetimes ago. Could that really have been just several months ago? I felt like a completely different person than the person I was back then.

"You didn't understand what?" Rose prompted, when I didn't go on.

My gaze flitted toward hers and a small, wry smile played at my lips. "What you said when we broke up," I clarified, and she shifted her weight uncomfortably at the dangerous topic that we both tried to avoid at all costs. "When you said we weren't right for each other...I thought that was just lame-ass excuse to try to get out of what you had done. But I know now that you were right. I couldn't see it at the time, and I had no idea what the hell you were talking about, but I get it now. We weren't right for each other. And what you and I had...it was the first real relationship I'd ever had, and it meant the world to me. Still does, in its own way. But it wasn't until I fell in love with Sydney that I realized what I was missing. That I truly understood what you were talking about—what you had with Belikov. And I knew, in that moment...that Sydney was the one I was meant to be with all along."

Rose sat there in silence for a long moment, racking her brain for a response, as she watched me pour my heart out to her. "How did it happen?" she asked at last, curiosity written all over her features. "How'd you wind up falling for Sydney?"

"I don't know," I said wryly. "How'd you wind up falling for Belikov? It just...kind of happened. One minute, we were just another Moroi and Alchemist, and I was teasing her about the bland way she dressed and how big a nerd she was for naming her car after coffee...and the next thing I knew, I looked at her...and I saw everything. I saw the world. I helped her go on a couple of covert missions to uncover some bad seeds in the Alchemy world—turns out it's really just chock-full of rotten apples. But I helped her put that asshole Keith away when he was trafficking vampire blood and saliva through a tattoo parlor that were giving high-inducing tattoos to the high school kids there.

"And then, she helped me get back into school," I added, racking my brain, trying to remember the beginning of our relationship when those feelings first started developing for me. "She believed in me when nobody else would. When I gave her no reason in the world to trust me, she helped me out anyway, because she couldn't stand to see my misery. She pulled a favor through one of her teachers and got me into Carlton when she had no reason to. She didn't have to help me, but she did it anyway. You can't imagine what it's like to have someone believe in you like that when the whole world has given up on you. When everyone expects you to be a good-for-nothing failure who just mooches off society.

"And then, when we were trapped in Keith's apartment with those two Strigoi..." I shuddered, remembering the look of pure evil on their malicious, leering faces. "I don't even wanna think about what would've happened had Eddie not shown up that night. I don't think I've ever been so terrified in my life." No, scratch that. The night she had been abducted, I had been more scared by a long shot. "But the thing is...I wasn't scared for me. I think I could've been killed that night, and it wouldn't have made much of a difference. I would've been okay with that. I just couldn't stand the idea that she could've been killed. When that Strigoi bit her..." I shook my head and choked back another sob. "Knowing how terrified she was of the Moroi alone and seeing her there, faced with the worst evil out there...it killed me. It tore me apart inside to think of something happening her. I think...I think that might have been when my feelings for her first emerged.

"After that night, when she had given up the opportunity to have her own apartment and gave it to me instead because she knew what it meant to me...that was a pretty big moment too. I knew what a challenge it was for her to live with Jill and Eddie at Amberwood, and even though she got her own room out of the deal, I wouldn't have expected her to wanna stay near them. But she did. She did it for me, to make me happy. She didn't have to do that. I remember that right before Abe showed up with the rest of the gang, Sydney and I had this moment."

I chuckled at the memory. "I was so proud of myself. I had spent the entire day scrubbing that place from top to bottom, and you know me. I had never so much as washed a dish my entire life; I didn't know what the hell I was doing. So I scrubbed the entire place with pine cleaner, and I was so proud to show off my hard work to Sydney when she arrived. She didn't have the heart to tell me that pine cleaner was only used for wood surfaces, but she told me a couple weeks later." I smiled, remembering the look of genuine amusement in her eyes that I really had no clue what I was doing. "I felt like such an idiot. But she didn't seem to mind. On that day, though, at my apartment, I had looked at her...and I just saw her completely differently. I'd always thought she was attractive inasmuch as a human could be, but I'd just never let myself go there, because she was human. But when I looked at her that day, I didn't just see a potentially attractive human. I saw the entire world, set at my feet, right within my grasp. I saw the most beautiful creature I had ever seen walking the face of this earth."

Another memory tugged at me, and I flinched at this one. "I even told her that once, you know? After that moment, I had tried so desperately to push my feelings down and ignore them, but they kept coming out in spurts here and there, and I just had no control over them. Like when she agreed to drive me to go see my dad in San Diego. She didn't have to do that, and hell, after the way it turned out she probably shouldn't have done it. But she did it anyway. And then, after he tore me a new one, she didn't care. She didn't care what he had said about me. She still believed in me. She even got Lissa to talk to my dad and convinced him that I was doing some great thing out there in California. When I asked her why she did that, she just said it was because she wanted to. No one has ever wanted to help me like that before, not ever. And it's sad that it takes a human—an Alchemist, at that—to see that there was more to me than just some spoiled rotten party boy. She knew, she could see what was underneath the surface and she helped me to realize that I didn't have to live up to society's expectations of me. I could be my own person. I could strive to reach my potential and nothing anyone else said could stop me from doing just that."

I exhaled shakily and buried my face in my hands momentarily, using that as an excuse to wipe off any tears that may have escaped. "And then it was just the little stuff after that. I kept finding all these lame excuses to be around her. Like buying my Mustang because I knew what a car fanatic she was. And I pretended that I didn't know how to drive it so that I had an excuse to be around her, and she was more than willing to teach me the proper mechanics of how to go about driving a standard. And then, going to Wolfe's with her to learn self-defense. You know me. I refuse to get my hands dirty, no matter what, but it was an excuse to be around her. So I went and learned self-defense with her. I think that, in itself, is pretty telling."

"I...would say so," Rose agreed, eyes wide as I regaled her with The Adventures of Sydney and Adrian. She obviously hadn't expected me to speak so much, and she had no idea what to say in return. She sat there for a long moment and shook her head. "You really love her, don't you?"

"More than anything," I breathed, and Rose said something else, but I wasn't listening anymore. I had tuned her out and was instead replaying every moment of my relationship with Sydney and reflecting back on every decision I had made that brought me to this exact moment in time. I was lost in the whirlwind of my own thoughts and didn't even acknowledge the bartender when he approached and said something to me, presumably offering me another drink.

"Just water," Rose answered for me. "And lots of it."

I didn't bother correcting her; I just let out a resigned sigh and rested my throbbing head against my clasped hands. "God," I groaned miserably. "Well, one thing can be said for me: at least I'm consistent. Still leaving messes behind everywhere I go, apparently."

"That's not true," Rose protested, resting a gentle hand on my shoulder and leaning forward to see me better. "Adrian, you're an amazing guy. You really are. Hell, you'd have to be in order to make Sydney Sage fall in love with you—a _vampire_. That, in itself, is pretty telling about you and the kind of person you are. She was taught her entire life to utterly loathe and despise us for what we are, to never give us an inch of trust. Yet somehow, you got through to her. You broke through all those walls and stereotypes that her people grilled into her and helped her to see that we really are just like her. If it weren't for you, she'd still be convinced that we're all creatures of hell."

"No, actually." I lifted my head and ignored the sensation that world was spinning around me as I turned to face Rose. "That would be you. She started having doubts and questioning her beliefs the moment she met you in Russia. When she saw you take down that Strigoi so fearlessly on your own, when she saw how kind and compassionate you were toward Dimitri's family when you were telling them what had happened to him...I can't tell you how many times she just went on and on about what a great person you are and how half the time, you seem more human than she is. She really admires you, you know. Your strength, your compassion...the way you stand up for yourself and others when people try to take advantage of you. She was raised in a world where she wasn't allowed to question. She was given an order, and there was nothing to do but say 'yes sir' and just do what she was told. But she told me time and time again that she wished she could've been more like you. She wished she could've stood up to her dad like you would have and not been afraid of him or what would happen if she said something he didn't like."

Rose laughed at that and cracked a joke to ease the tension. "Oh, believe me, if she wants me to stand up to her dad for her, I've got a few choice words for that heartless bastard and I take no issue with giving him an earful after what he did to her." She shook her head in disgust at the mention of Sydney's father. "Seriously, what kind of sick son of a bitch does that to his own daughter, anyway? How does he live with himself?" I didn't have an answer for that. I had nothing to say about that man—at least not anything _good_.

After a long moment, I felt Rose's hand cover my own and I flinched in surprise. "Is that why you're drinking?" she asked curiously, no trace of judgment or disdain anywhere in her voice. "You miss her?"

"Partly," I conceded, "but no, not really. I mean, yes, I do miss her, but I also know that we're gonna get her back and drinking my troubles away doesn't do much for her in the grand scheme of things. So no, I'm not drinking because of her. I'm drinking because of spirit."

Realization filled her features, and she seemed to remember just how much spirit I had to tap into in order to pull of that spirit dream. And that I was suffering the kickback effects of three spirit users, not just one. So yeah, I turned to alcohol mostly to mute spirit while I recovered from that episode. Frankly, it didn't do much to help me feel better about Sydney, anyway. Instead, it just made me feel guilty that I was betraying her trust in allowing myself this indulgence after promising her that I would lay off the drinking for good. Of course, neither one of us saw this coming, and I didn't have the remarkable strength that she had. I couldn't research my way out of my problems like Sydney could. I couldn't punch and kick my way through my problems like Rose and Dimitri or even Eddie could.

But I also couldn't smoke and drink my way through my problems like I normally did, either. Not anymore. Not after everything that I...it didn't do me any good to sit here with my a drink in my hands, wallowing in pity and self-loathing. It did nothing for me; it did nothing for Sydney; and it did nothing to make our situation any better. I knew that. And yet, after all the spirit I had used to reach her, I couldn't just do nothing. I needed a physical outlet to deal with the grief and agony brought on by my fragile mental state, and this was the best I had. Hell, who was I kidding? It was _all_ I had.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Rose tentatively offered, knowing full and well that there was nothing she could do to make my pain go away, but apparently feeling the need to do something.

"You're already doing everything you can," I told her, glancing away in my shame that I was so weak.

"That's not what I meant," she replied. "I meant, is there anything I can do—now—for you to make you feel better somehow?"

The bartender returned just then with a giant glass of water filled all the way to the brim. I raised it to my lips and drank it, swallowing the contents in a couple of gulps. Then, I set the glass back down on the counter and shook my head slowly. "No," I murmured. "Trust me, nothing will help."

"I don't know," she said wryly. "I might be able to con Christian into giving you a back rub," she added, trying her hand at a joke. "Play your cards right, he might even throw in a foot rub for free."

"No," I said, voice hard, not even acknowledging her joke. "All we can do is wait for your old man to return your call and offer up his help to get Sydney back. That's all I can do—all I can think about. All I want."

Rose's smile faded and she sobered up. "Right. About that." She straightened up eagerly. "That's actually why I'm here. I got in touch with Abe and he told me he'd 'be more than happy to extend his services to freeing the delightful Ms. Sage, after all the wonderful assistance she's provided him in the past'—" Rose rolled her eyes. "That's a direct quote, by the way. He just said he needed some time to get a hold of some of his contacts, and he said he'd get back to me with the details when everything was set."

Now I straightened up, eager that we'd finally made a giant leap in rescuing Sydney. "Did he say how long it would take?"

"No." She shook her head. "The old man's not exactly big on providing details until absolutely necessary, I'm afraid. As you well recall." She grimaced.

"Well, is there anything we can do in the meantime while we wait?"

"Afraid not," she said, with a small, helpless shrug. "At this point, I'm afraid it's a waiting game." I could sense her agitation, and I knew she hated sitting around helplessly and waiting when there was someone out there that needed her help. She couldn't stand inactivity and waiting around; she always had to be doing something to further help the greater good.

"But that doesn't mean—"

"Ooh, speak of the devil," she declared as her phone started ringing. She took it out from her pocket and answered it, bringing the phone up to her ears. "Talk to me," she said boldly, sounding remarkably like a commanding officer ordering around her troops. "What do you got for me, old man?" I could've listened in to Abe's side of the conversation if I really wanted to, but I didn't feel like eavesdropping right now. I just waited until Rose hung up the phone before finding out what was going on.

"So?" I asked hopefully, as she pocketed her phone. "What's the what?"

"He's got her location confirmed," she told me, rising from her bar stool and grabbing her jacket, which she had set on the counter upon sitting beside me. "He has a visual; she's definitely being held in that compound on the border of Mexico, no doubt about it."

"How the hell does he have a visual?" I arched an eyebrow curiously.

She gave another helpless shrug. "I don't know. Because he's Abe Mazur, that's why. He has all kinds of connections, that frankly, I'm sure I would be terrified to know about if I actually knew about them. He probably has a whole bunch of double agent Alchemists working for him that are more than willing to give him the skinny on _any_ situation, if he compensates them generously enough. Which, of course, he always does. He said he's got a guy on the inside that saw Sydney in the holding cell, currently being—"

"No! No!" I exclaimed, cringing away from her. "I don't need to know the details. Let's just get to Belikov and get this show on the road."

I got off my bar stool and Rose immediately reached out and grabbed me by my arms to steady me. "Wait, Adrian, no! We can't take off now, not while you're...in this condition. We'll wait til morning. We leave at dawn—"

"No," I snapped. "Bullshit. We leave now. We've waited long enough, and Sydney needs us _right now_."

"We aren't going anywhere," she snapped back. "You aren't going to be able to use any spirit while you're drunk, anyway. We need you to sober up. You're no good to us if you're just going to pass out in the heat of the battle—"

I jerked out of her grip on me and took a bold step forward so that I was towering over her, glaring at her. "Like hell. Rose, trust me, I am not that drunk. All it takes is knowing Sydney's location and having a rescue plan firmly in place to sober me up. Honestly, it's like I've been drinking water all night."

She returned my glare with a challenging one of her own, refusing to believe my words for one minute. "Would you like me to perform a sobriety test for you?" I offered, crossing my arms across my chest and regarding her indulgently. "I'd be more than happy to—"

"No," she conceded, holding up a hand to stop me. "I believe you. You can drink plenty of water and sleep it off on the flight there—"

I shook my head abruptly. "No, we can't fly there. The Alchemists could trace flight records, even if we use the private jets owned by the Court. We can't risk them linking this back to any of us—we especially can't have them suspecting Lissa of being involved. We rent a car, and we'll drive there."

Rose's eyes widened with the realization of what my words meant. "Adrian...that'd be a two—maybe even a three—day drive. Do you have any idea how—"

"Well, then, we better get going," I suggested, offering up a shrug. I walked right by her, brushing past her as I walked—as straight and purposefully as if I truly were sober. And for all intents and purposes, I may as well have been, because there were no indicators that I had been drinking at all, aside from a slight headache that was starting to kick in. Nothing that aspirin and about ten gallons of water wouldn't fix. No biggie.

But now that I had everything I needed here, I wasn't waiting a second longer. I was getting Sydney back, and I was getting her back _now._ One way or another. "You coming, little dhampir?" I called back over my shoulder, not even bothering to turn around to face her. "No time to waste—Sydney's life hangs in the balance here, after all. Get Belikov and meet me in the parking garage in one hour. You've got _one _hour," I warned, "...and then I leave. With or without you."


	6. Chapter 6

"What the hell is going on?!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air in my agitation as I stepped out of the car and slammed the door angrily behind me. I couldn't help but wince at how hard I had shut it, though, imagining what Sydney would've said had she been here to scold me for taking my irritation out on the car. I couldn't help it, though.

Lissa had gotten two rental cars secured for us to make this grueling cross-country expedition—one for Rose and Dimitri so that they would have the means to return to Court once this was over and another one for Sydney and me to flee in. We had been driving for nearly three days, and yet, for some inexplicable reason, we were stopping yet again, which meant we were losing even more time in rescuing Sydney. No one else seemed to understand just how crucial it was for us to get to her as soon as possible, and Rose and Dimitri saw fit to stop every several hours for gas or food, and they even made us stop to rest up in a couple motels along the way. Me, I only wanted to stop to fill up my tank when I was down to the last drop and then hit the road immediately after. I couldn't think about food or sleep right now—those were luxuries I just couldn't afford, given the circumstances. All I could think about was Sydney and how each mile I drove brought me even closer to her.

We were now about twenty miles away from the Alchemist compound—in the middle of nowhere, perhaps most importantly—and I was getting antsy by this point. I had long since sobered up, and I had no other substances in my system—not even caffeine, though I might as well have had twenty cups of coffee with how twitchy and spastic I was right now. I had visited the feeders before leaving Court, knowing if nothing else that it was important I kept up my strength to pull this off, and then when we rolled into California, we happened upon an elderly Moroi couple that had graciously taken us in for the night and allowed me to use the feeder they kept on hand. So now, I was powered up to full strength and ready to attack this mission head-on. Which was why I found our constant stops irritating as hell.

"Why are we stopping?" I demanded, stalking towards the dark green Toyota Camry that Rose and Dimitri had driven in. Almost as if one entity, they stepped out of their car at the same time and turned to face me, expressions wary, clearly expecting me to blow up at yet another unscheduled stop. I glanced anxiously between their faces. "What, does Belikov gotta tinkle again?"

Rose gave a weary sigh and approached me, holding her hands out in a calming gesture. "Adrian," she sighed. "Look, we're getting there as fast as we can, okay? I know how anxious you are to reach Sydney here, I do. But Abe just called and he's about ten minutes behind us. He said he wanted to meet up and go over the plan one last time."

"Awesome," I growled, praying that Abe really was as close as he claimed to be. He always seemed to operate on his own time table. "That's just...fantastic." I ran a hand through my hair and whipped around, stalking toward the car I drove in, not wanting to stand out here and make meaningless small talk. I wanted to talk strategy and logistics. I didn't want any more half-assed pep talks about how "everything would be okay". Because right now, nothing was okay.

The car I drove in was a midnight blue 2000 Toyota Corolla. Lissa had figured that would be a much better getaway car, particularly since we were trying to pull off this daring escape in the middle of the night and a dark colored car would be much harder for any pursuing Alchemists to spot. Dark thoughts churned in my head, my mind spinning out of control, when I spotted another car rapidly approaching off in the distance. That tiny car grew closer and closer until, at last—in an abrupt, sharp maneuver—it steered off to the side of the road, skidding to an abrupt halt just behind my car. Another Toyota Camry, though not nearly as old as the one Rose and Dimitri drove in. Theirs was a model that was probably built in the mid-90's, if I had to guess. Sydney would've only needed a cursory glance to be able to tell every last intimate detail of the vehicle, but I knew only what I needed to know about cars to make them operate. Hell, if my car ever started making a noise, I would just have Sydney listen to it and she would instantly know: "Oh, that's the radiator" or "that's the carburetor" or "that's the gas pump". It was amazing, really...and incredibly hot, if you asked me. But then, as her boyfriend, I was probably kinda biased.

My musings came to a halt as Abe stepped out of the driver seat of his car, striding grandly toward us with that look of world domination sketched permanently into his features. "Good evening, all," he declared, putting on an air of grandiosity that made me roll my eyes. "Surely you haven't been waiting long?"

Rose snorted and then approached her notorious father and shook her head, as he pulled her into a hug. "Only about thirty seconds too long, old man," she teased, taking a step back and looking up into his eyes. "I swear, you're getting kinda slow in your old age."

"I never!" he returned, sounding utterly offended by the accusation. "I am right on time, and you know it. Besides..." He turned and gestured to something—or rather, someone—behind him. "I come bearing gifts. I picked up a couple of drifters along the way, who might be able to lend some much needed assistance."

I wasn't surprised to see Marcus emerge from the passenger side of the car, and I certainly wasn't surprised to see him regarding Abe with that same wariness that he still used on me...only for Abe, that wariness was much more apparent, considering the older Moroi's badass reputation. "Well come on, already," Abe said, when Marcus made no further movements. "I already told you, I won't bite. I assure you, I keep myself well fed, and you hold no appeal to me, anyway."

Rose smacked Abe's arm and rolled her eyes. "Oh, be quiet, will you?" Then she turned to Marcus and offered him a kind smile. "Don't pay him any mind. I sure don't, and I'm his own daughter. No one will judge you for it. I'm Rose—Rose Hathaway."

Marcus' eyes flicked over to Rose and his demeanor changed drastically as he took her in, but then she had that effect on people. As her ex, I knew that better than anyone. And I also knew I was going to enjoy myself when Marcus turned on the charm for her and it would do him no good. Sure enough, Marcus turned on that dazzling smile that he had claimed made anything female swoon, but I wasn't so sure. "Marcus Finch," he said. "It's a pleasure meeting you. The Queen of the Moroi's personal guardian, if I'm not mistaken, correct?"

Rose nodded. "In the flesh."

"It's an honor and a privilege to have you along to help us fight the good fight," he replied, his tone almost a perfect match for Abe's.

"Thank you?" Rose said uncertainly, casting Abe a questioning look. He just shrugged in response, and I had to stifle a snort with the realization that Marcus had indeed tried hitting on Rose. Apparently, it had been far too long for Rose to recognize that's what was going on here, though, since she hadn't engaged in proper flirting she her pre-Belikov days. She shrugged off the weirdness of Marcus' comment and then turned to Dimitri, who now stood directly behind her.

"This is Dimitri Belikov," she told Marcus, gesturing back to Dimitri as he placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "A fellow guardian...and my boyfriend."

Marcus only looked mildly disappointed, but he nodded in acknowledgment to Dimitri. "Pleasure," he said flatly. Dimitri just nodded in response, actually looking genuinely pleased to meet Marcus.

"Marcus is a former Alchemist," Abe explained to Rose and Dimitri, "only too eager to divulge all their trade secrets and help in rescuing Miss Sage from her dreadful prison, considering his own rocky history with the Alchemy world. And—"

"Jackie?" I breathed, staring wide-eyed in astonishment at the newcomer. There was no mistaking Jackie Terwilliger, Sydney's former history teacher at Amberwood Prep—and her magic mentor.

"Adrian," she said, with a small smile playing at her lips. "It's good to see you again. It's been a while." It really had. Ever since our combined attempts to reach Sydney had failed, I had written off Jackie's magic as being of any use in this endeavor and I steered clear of her altogether because being around her just reminded me of Sydney, and that hurt too much.

I nodded my agreement. "You too." I resisted the urge to ask what she was doing here, not wanting to reveal her ability to wield witchcraft magic. It wasn't my secret to reveal, and I wasn't going to jump to any conclusions here.

"Jackie Terwilliger," Abe introduced her. "Ms. Terwilliger here is an instructor at Amberwood Prep, and I believe she was Sydney's history teacher while she attended the institution. Jackie, this is Rose and Dimitri—two of the best guardians throughout history. They're going to help us rescue Sydney."

"Um...I'm sorry, us?" Rose said, looking reluctant to voice her next realization. "Look, don't take this the wrong way or anything, but we really don't need any more people, and I don't want to risk anyone else—"

"It's my life to risk, my dear," Jackie said wryly. "And I'd risk a hell of a lot more if it meant helping Sydney. You can say she's become something like a daughter of sorts to me, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her."

"I understand that. But...you're human," Rose added awkwardly, clearly feeling weird at being the one to call her out on that factor here. "I'm sorry, but I don't really see how you can—"

"Why don't you let me worry about that?" Jackie replied, a serene smile crossing her lips. "I am more than capable of lending assistance, and I want to help. I might not look like much, but I assure you, I can offer a great deal of help."

"How's that?" Rose urged.

"Rose, let it go," I said gruffly, and everyone turned to face me, surprised by the fact that I had spoken. "It doesn't matter how she can help. The fact is that she can help. I don't much care about how."

"Oh, don't play coy, Adrian," Abe laughed. "I should think it would be perfectly safe to share Ms. Terwilliger's, ah...special gifts with the people here. I doubt anyone here will run to tell any higher-ups, and we will all understand the importance of keeping it a secret from others. Rose and Dimitri will hardly run and alert the media, don't you think?"

I stared in astonishment. "You know?" I hardly dared to breathe. How in the hell did he know?

He snorted. "Of course I know! You honestly think anything goes on the magical world without me being aware of it? Please. Human or vampire magic, it doesn't make much of a difference to me. Why do you think I took such an interest in Miss Sage to begin with? I sensed her potential, and I knew the power she could possess if she really wanted to. And I was right. She tapped into that, and now...she's learned to wield fire faster than any Moroi fire user I've ever met. She truly is a talented young woman, and it sure would be a shame to see her talents stripped from this world, wouldn't you agree?" When I offered up no response, Abe signaled toward Jackie. "Now, Jackie, if you will, please."

Jackie flinched in surprise at Abe directly addressing her, but she quickly recovered herself and nodded. Then, she began waving her hands in an elegant maneuver that tugged painfully at my heartstrings—a maneuver that I knew remarkably well because I had seen Sydney wield it with such power and precision that it seemed as if she single-handedly controlled every drop of magic—human or vampiric—in this world. In the space of a heartbeat, Jackie had conjured up a fire ball roughly the size of a beach ball and she balanced it in the palm of her hand delicately, like she was holding a bouquet of flowers instead of something that could be used as a weapon of destruction. Christian would've been so jealous. She calmly met Rose and Dimitri's eyes after almost an entire minute had passed and she offered them a wry smirk. "So. Did I pass your test?"

It was times like this that I wish I had a camera. The look of utter shock on Rose and Dimitri's faces was just priceless, and I would've given my left arm to be able to capture that moment. But sadly, the moment was gone too soon, and they soon recovered themselves. Dimitri's mask of guardian indifference instantly slipped back into place like nothing had happened, but Rose made no attempts to hide her surprise here. And naturally, Rose was the first one to break that unbearable silence.

"How...how did you—?"She stammered, shaking her head in disbelief. "How did you do that?" she managed to say at last.

"Same way your Moroi fire users do," Jackie replied, offering a nonchalant shrug. "Only, while they draw the magic from within themselves, I pull the magic from the earth, tapping into the elements around me and essentially forcing them to do my bidding."

"But you're not—" Rose began, still struggling to wrap her head around this. "I mean, that's not possible. There's no way anyone could control the elements like that, not unless they're Moroi. Unless you're, uh...what are you?" she added bluntly, not even knowing how to sugarcoat that question.

But Jackie took no offense and instead just offered Rose a kind smile. "I'm a witch, for lack of a better term. So is Sydney. I recognized the potential within her to tap into the power of witchcraft, power far beyond my own, and so—after much resistance and resentment from her—I eventually trained her in the craft and took her under my wing as my own apprentice. She joined my coven shortly before she was taken, but the magic she was wielding at that time, with hardly any effort on her part..." Jackie broke off and shook her head in awe, as she reflected back on Sydney and what her former student was capable of. "It was absolutely mind-blowing. I've never seen anything like her in all my time practicing the craft—certainly not from someone as young as her."

"Wait a minute!" Rose held up a hand to stop Jackie from going on further, struggling to process the notion that one of her friends—whom she thought she knew better than anybody—was a witch. "So, you're saying that Sydney can do this...fire thing too? Just like you can?"

A wry smile twitched at Jackie's lips. "My darling, that 'fire thing' isn't even a drop in the bucket compared to the things Sydney can do with her magic. That girl is magnificent, truly. The power she possesses—"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time!" Rose interrupted. "And that's what I have such a hard time believing here. Sydney hates magic."

"Oh, she did at first, absolutely," Jackie conceded. "Only because she didn't know any better, but once she got past all those cliché notions that the Alchemists had grilled into her, she soon came to realize that the power in and of itself wasn't wrong. It's what you did with the power that determined whether it was good or evil. And she has done some pretty amazing things with her magic, with much more amazing feats to come, I'm sure."

"If she really can wield this magic," Dimitri now chimed in, startling all of us since he had thus far been quiet, "then why couldn't she escape her captors the minute they took her in? Why hasn't she tried to escape?"

"Because she's being kept drugged, "Jackie explained. "Much like with vampiric magic, drugs affect human magic, which is why my magic has been unable to call hers and I've been unable to make contact with her. They are deliberately keeping her in this weakened state so that she will have no means—or quite frankly, no will—to fight against them. Her magic has been rendered dormant for the time being, and it's going to take some time for her to get it back, I'd wager."

"Do you think they know about her?" Marcus asked, face serious, though I knew it couldn't be easy for him to learn the truth about Sydney and everything she had been keeping from him. I would've bet every dime the Ivashkov family had that Marcus had had no idea about Sydney's magical gifts—or the role they had to play in her capture. "About her powers, I mean. Do you think that's why they're keeping her drugged, to keep her powers on lockdown so that she can't escape?"

"With all the dirty little secrets and skeletons lying buried deep in that Alchemist closet," Abe replied, "I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say that they knew about Sydney's gifts from day one. They keep close tabs on their little pets, the Alchemists do, and Sydney especially has always stuck out to her superiors as someone special. Someone who needed an extra watching eye dog, just to make sure she didn't step a toe out of line. The people who work at the heart of the Alchemists know more about this world—more about magic—than they'd ever dare to let on to their employees. Something tells me they knew about Sydney since she was a wide-eyed, drooling toddler, and they've kept her concealed under their wraps for quite some time in the hopes that she would never realize her own power."

"But why would they keep something like that from her?" Rose asked, looking appropriately appalled and outraged on Sydney's behalf here. "She had a right to know. And besides, if they really wanted her to toe the company line, wouldn't they have wanted her to utilize every resource she had and throw it in furthering the Alchemist cause?"

"Absolutely not," Abe laughed, clearly finding Rose's comment amusing and absolutely unfathomable. "Power like Sydney Sage's is not power that goes unnoticed. It's the kind of power that builds and expands over time...it's the kind of power that makes men weep and brings nations crumbling to their knees if executed properly. The Alchemists knew that if she ever found out about the lies and half-truths they had fed her her entire life and if she ever turned against them, she would have the potential to destroy them. To rip them apart from the inside out and burn the pieces." He considered. "Figuratively speaking, of course. All the greatest revolutions and wars throughout history have been brought about by people like Miss Sage who possess unspeakable power and who refuse to be told how to act and what to believe. It was only a matter of time before she turned on her own people, once she learned the truth about their motives."

Rose shuddered and glanced back at Dimitri, who looked equally concerned for Sydney. "What are you saying?" Rose choked out at last. "Are you saying she's dangerous?"

Abe snorted. "No more dangerous than you and I are, my darling daughter."

Rose rolled her eyes. "So, yes, then."

"Oh, if you piss her off or hurt the ones she love, absolutely," Abe relented. "She's absolutely lethal, if she wants to be...but I wouldn't worry about it. She's not posing a danger to you, for example, or to society. She's just strong-willed, stubborn, and finally learning how to stand up for what she knows to be right. She's not letting people push her around anymore."

Rose looked a little relieved at that, and I could've sworn I caught a glimpse of wryness in her eyes. Of course Rose would be absolutely thrilled if Sydney rebelled against her own people, considering what they thought of ours and their long standing plans to destroy us somewhere down the road. "Well, I say it's about time she finally pushed back," she muttered. "She has taken far too much crap lying down as it is, and she shouldn't have to take it anymore. And if I get to help her bust out of there, then that's just all the better."

"Yeah, damn right," I agreed, clearing my throat to choke back the emotion that was rapidly rising up within me. "Now. Enough foreplay. Let's go through the plan one final time and get this over with."

"Yes, yes, of course," Abe agreed, giving a dismissive wave of his hand, looking like someone who had gotten off topic at a cocktail party, rather than someone about to go rushing into a life or death situation here. "Ever since I learned of Miss Sage's capture, I have been slipping the Alchemists the wrong blood so that their attempts to compel her back into compliance would fail." He looked supremely pleased with himself—as well as the surprise his words elicited in all of us. "My contacts have been ensuring that she's getting the blood I provided them, acting as double agents for me and the Alchemists. But I assure you, I am paying them much more than the Alchemists could even dream of, so I know exactly where their loyalty lies. You're welcome, by the way," he addressed me with that final comment.

"Well," I said dryly. "Cookie for you. Marcus." My gaze then flicked over to the human man, still standing by the car, and I signaled him over, before Abe could add anything else. "You're up."

Marcus offered a curt nod and then rapidly approached, now in the comfortable, familiar territory of maps and puzzles that Alchemists—or even former Alchemists, apparently—excelled at. He held a rolled up piece of paper in his hands and when he reached us, he unrolled it and spread it out against the hood of my car, revealing a detailed map of the Alchemist compound and all its ins and outs.

"All right, so this is the facility where Sydney is being held," he spoke in a very brisk and efficient, business-like tone, like the good little former Alchemist he was. "There are entrances here, here, here...and here." He pointed to the map, indicating four locations that were on the opposite ends of one another, creating sort of a diagonal cross. "And Sydney is being held in the center of the compound...right...here." He traced a zigzag line from the top of the map, down toward the center of the page, his finger stopping at a tiny box that read HC3: P0039485. "Holding cell number three," Marcus translated the Alchemist-speak for us. "Prisoner number: 0039485."

"How'd they come up with that number for her?" I asked, dreading the answer even as I asked the question.

Sure enough, the dry smile on his face indicated I wouldn't like what was coming. "Because the Alchemists have imprisoned and re-educated 39,485 former Alchemists. Including Sydney."

"There's no way that compound is near big enough to have ever held almost 40,000 people," Dimitri astutely noted. "Where are they keeping them all?"

Marcus turned that sarcastic look onto Dimitri now. "You think this is the only Re-education center the Alchemists have? Please. They're scattered all throughout the globe, and once insitutionalized in there, the Alchemist's name goes down in the Alchemist records forever as 'a sinner' or someone who is damned to hell, even if they do succeed in being re-educated. Because according to them, there is no forgiveness for 'cavorting around with the devil'. In this life or the next. They turn their prisoners into robots who literally can't think for themselves and convince these people that it doesn't matter because they're going to hell for their wickedness anyway."

"My God," Rose scoffed in disgust. "So why even bother with all the mind control crap if they think you're done for anyway? Why not just let you go and live your own life, if you're going to hell, no matter what they do?"

"Hey, if I had the answer to that, I'd be running the joint," Marcus said. "I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you more about the Alchemist plans, but I'm afraid I don't have the answers to everything—and quite frankly, the answers I don't have are the ones that terrify the hell out of me. Once upon a time, I was just a lowly Alchemist who found out too much and didn't like what I learned so I bailed before anyone got the chance to capture me and thrust me into a place just like this one. And that's just for being curious and snooping around in forbidden files and watching football on Friday nights with some Moroi buddies of mine. Imagine what they'd do to someone who has actually had..." He grimaced. "...physical relations with a Moroi—someone who claims to be in love with a _vampire_—a minion of hell." Marcus shook his head, not even daring to form a thought to that nature, probably for fear of what the answer would be. "Hell, you can pretty much guarantee they're going to be bathing her in Purell, bleach, and holy water till Judgment Day."

"Thank you for that vivid imagery, Marcus," I snapped. "But I'd say we're getting a little off topic. Sydney, we're talking about Sydney here. Rescuing Sydney. So..." I took a bold step forward and began pointing in sharp gestures toward the map. "I say the best thing to do is lay siege to the building. Rose, you take the back entrance with Jackie." I then traced the invisible line that Marcus had followed earlier. "You slip into the compound and slowly make your way toward Sydney's cell. You keep the Alchemists off of me. Any security system they have installed—any guards keeping watch—you draw them away from Sydney and keep them distracted until I give you the green light." Rose looked a little startled at me slipping so comfortably into my commander role, but she knew better than to question it—or debate anything I told her right now.

"Belikov, you take the entrance on the right side and, like Rose, make your way toward Sydney. Keep the Alchemists off my ass, and make sure we don't get caught. I don't care if you have to throw firecrackers in the toilet to provide a distraction or whatever. Just keep them away from Sydney. Abe, you hit up the left side. And Marcus, you're going to walk in the front entrance with me, and we're going to—"

"What?!" Marcus exclaimed, cutting off anything else I might've added and looking at me like I was a complete and total idiot. Please. Like I'd never seen that look before. "Are you crazy!?"

I looked up at Marcus and met his eyes, returning his outraged expression with a dry, knowing one of my own—the look that I always gave when people asked me that question. "I love that you even ask me that."

"Were you not listening to what I said before?" he asked, ignoring my comment altogether. "I am number one on the Alchemists Most Wanted hit list, and you want me to walk right into a compound overflowing with Alchemists and just hope that none of them recognize me?!"

"Relax," I said, with a weary eye roll. "Nobody will recognize you. You're coming with me, and I'll keep you disguised with my spirit. No one will know it's you; they'll think you're some random Alchemist, who's there to inspect the situation for yourself to report the goings-on to your higher-ups. And if no one buys it, then that's what I'm gonna be there for. I'll compel them to take us back to the holding cell and then erase their memory—it'll be like we were never there and the person running the place just dozed off for a couple minutes. It's not quite the catastrophe you're making it out to be."

"And what if that doesn't work?" he demanded, clearly not as confident in my spirit ability as he should have been. "Then your genius plan blows up in our face, and we all wind up behind bars. Oh, yeah. Sounds fantastic."

I took a bold step toward Marcus, a dangerous glint in my eye as I backed him up into my car. "We're doing this for Sydney," I growled. "She needs us right now. And if you're too much of a coward to see this thing through just because you might get caught, then you would do well to turn around right now and start walking. But I will not have you falling apart in there when it counts—when the big moment comes. So you can either lend me a hand or you can get the hell out of my way. What's it going to be?"

"Whoa, whoa, Adrian!" A firm, restraining hand grabbed my shoulder, and I whipped around to see Rose standing there, holding me back. "There's no need for that. Just calm down and take a step back here."

I held gazes with Marcus for almost a full minute, glaring at the other man, angry that he couldn't see how important this was and how worth it Sydney was. Then, reluctantly, I complied and took a step back. "So. You in, Finch, or are you still too scared of what Mommy and Daddy will say if they catch you with your hand in the cookie jar again?"

"I'm in," he snapped, straightening up and glowering at me, but that glower soon faded—as did the testosterone-fueled moment as the severity of the situation finally sank in. "We'll try it your way, but I can't guarantee that it'll work."

"Well, I'm not asking for your guarantee. I'm asking for your help for Sydney. That's all. Once she's free, you can do whatever you want. You can go to Disney Land and hit up the happiest place in the world, for all I care."

"And once Sydney's free...what are you going to do?" Rose asked, curiosity written all over her features.

I had been thinking about this, and I finally had the perfect answer, offered by the dream version of Sydney I had conversed with. "Take Sydney and head south of the border, into Mexico. We'll ditch the car before crossing the border, obviously, and I'll keep us disguised as two random humans just looking for a good time in the heart of Mexico. Then we'll drive further, down into South America...where we'll catch a boat to Europe. When we dock there, we'll find a place free of Alchemists and live there...as long as we have to. We'll be okay. We'll look out for each other and take care of one another. And when it's safe again, we'll come back to Court."

"Adrian..." Sadness shone in Rose's eyes as she realized that this may be the last time she sees Sydney and me. "I don't think it'll ever be safe for you two to return to Court. Not so long as the Alchemists are still in conflict with the Moroi."

"Maybe, maybe not," I agreed, a small, reluctant smile playing at my lips. "But a guy can always hope, right? Either way, it won't matter. We'll be together, and that's all I care about. We'll worry about the details later. But as of right now...we need to worry more about the now."

"Agreed," she said curtly. "And if spirit doesn't get the job done this time, then what? What do you want us to do?"

"Then you fight," I said simply. "You kick ass the old-fashioned way, and then once Sydney and I make a break for it, you haul ass out of there and don't look back. Don't stop until you've reached Court. And make sure Lissa has your cover stories all ready to go in case the Alchemists decide to interrogate her."

"Okay," Rose replied at last.

"Okay," I returned. "Let's set to it, then. And remember, don't park close to the compound. I'll park my car as close as I can manage without drawing attention and try to keep it hidden as best I can. You make sure you park at least two, three miles away. We also need to make sure we disable the surveillance system. We can't risk being spotted."

"I can do that," Marcus said lamely, speaking for the first time since our altercation. "Smashing high-tech software is a lot more conspicuous and unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. I have subtler ways of altering the security tapes that will make it seem like a technological glitch caused it to mess up, and no one will be looking to point fingers at anybody. Last thing we need is to draw any more attention to ourselves here."

"Okay," I agreed.

"Well, now that we've got that settled," Abe began cheerfully, "what do you say we go kick some Alchemist ass, shall we?" He didn't even wait for us to grace his comment with a response before spinning on his heel and returning to his car.

Marcus followed shortly thereafter, and I took the moment to pull Jackie aside and speak to her. "Jackie, hey. Ride with me in my car, will you? I'd like to discuss your involvement in a bit more detail, if that's all right."

Jackie nodded her agreement and let out a sigh that sounded almost happy. Strange, considering the circumstances. "What?" I asked, confused as to what could have her so giddy.

She shook her head. "Nothing. It's just that...well, if Sydney could see you right now? So strong, so bold, charging into battle for her and overcoming your battle with spirit for her...she'd just be so proud of you."

I returned her smile, only mine was a sad smile. "The battle with spirit is never over," I said grimly. "It's always a constant battle...and sometimes I win, but more often than not, spirit wins. Really, it's all a bunch of hearsay. There's no telling who's gonna win the next round til it's all said and done."

"Well, something tells me you're gonna start winning a lot more rounds, and pretty soon, spirit won't know what hit it! You truly are a remarkable man, Adrian, and Sydney would be so pleased to see you like this, so brave, so capable...so close to being the man she's always known you could be. This is what she sacrificed herself for. You know that, don't you? So that you could have the opportunity to go on and prove yourself to everyone else—to prove yourself to the world that you are much, much more than they ever gave you credit for. I know that. And Sydney knows that too."

"Thanks," I choked, "but to be brutally honest here, it's kind of a hollow comfort, all things considered here. I'm sorry, but...I'm just not up for well-meant words right now. I want Sydney back. That's all I need to be okay. That's all I need to be strong."

Jackie nodded her agreement. "I know you do. And she needs you every bit as much as you need her."

And with that, Jackie walked off and got into my car. I spun around and made to follow her, but came to an abrupt halt when I saw Rose standing behind me. I was surprised to see that she looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Should I use this opportunity to say good-bye?" she asked. "I might not get another chance once this rescue mission kicks off."

"Nah." I gave a dismissive wave of my hand. "Save your breath, little dhampir. I've always hated good-byes. They're just a shitty way of saying that we're never going to see each other again, and rest assured...we will definitely be seeing each other again, one way or another. I'll make sure of it. This isn't goodbye. It's just a 'see you later'. Granted, a really, really long 'see you later', but...a 'see you later' nonetheless."

She chuckled. "Right. Well, then. Let's go kick it in the ass so we can get to that 'see you later' all the faster."

I nodded my agreement and made to walk off again, but Rose spoke again, making me stop in my tracks. "Adrian, wait!"

I turned around to face her again. "Yeah?"

"She's right, you know. Jackie," she clarified to my questioning look. "Sydney would be proud of you if she could see you right now...and for good reason. You really have changed a lot. It's amazing to me. I always knew you had it in you, and I'm glad you've finally realized it for yourself. I'm proud of you, Adrian. And I'm gonna miss you and Sydney like crazy when this is all said and done." She forced another laugh, but I could hear the emotion growing thick in her voice again.

"Don't worry," I assured her. "We'll be sure to send you a postcard every now and then. Hell, we're gonna tour the world together...and we certainly can't do that without sharing our adventures with our friends, now can we?"

"No," Rose murmured. "I suppose not."

"Thanks," I said abruptly, in case I didn't get the chance to thank her again later. "Thanks again...for everything. You can't imagine what this means to me, to have you guys help me with this."

Rose glanced back toward their car and watched Dimitri climb in to the driver seat, and a small reminiscent smile played at her lips. "No," she protested. "I really can, actually. And it's nothing. Hell, you helped me when I needed to go save the one that I loved. Now it's only fair that I return the favor. Like you said, we owe you. We owe you both for everything you did for us, and we're happy to do it."

I stepped forward and pulled her into a quick hug and smiled down at her when she stepped back from the embrace. "Well, thanks, but we should probably get going."

Rose nodded her agreement, shifting into battle mode, and then spun around and made her way toward their car, while I walked around and got into the driver side of mine. "So tell me," I told Jackie, once I was settled into my seat. "What'd it cost?"

She flinched and met my gaze questioningly. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your deal with the devil," I explained. "I saw your face out there. Abe didn't know anything about human magic before talking to you, did he? You struck a deal with him...and you told him. You told him about Sydney, and what she could do."

Jackie exhaled shakily and glanced out the window, trying to avoid my gaze. "Abe...suspected about Sydney. Apparently, his people had been following her for quite sometime, ever since she struck that deal of her own with him. He knew something was off about her and the things she had been doing lately, so he came to me because he thought I'd be the one to have the answers he was looking for. And I just confirmed what he already knew in the hopes that he would be able to use his tremendous influence in the Alchemist and Moroi worlds alike to get her out of there. I did what I had to do, Adrian," she added, not sounding the least bit sorry for what she had done.

"Why would you do that?" I demanded. "Why would you tell him about Sydney? Abe Mazur is a persistent little bastard, and he will not stop until he's got his claws in Sydney again. He's going to try to use her—to use her abilities for his own benefit."

She sighed. "I told him what he wanted to know, because he said that if I told him everything I knew about human magic and the extent of its uses...he would help me rescue Sydney. He promised that he would get her out of there if I gave him what he wanted. So yes. I told him everything. I didn't blink. I didn't flinch. He called and I came, just like that. I did it for Sydney—I did it to save her. Now you look me in the eye and tell me: had an opportunity like this presented itself to you...how far would you go? What would you do if it meant saving her?"

It really wasn't a fair question because I knew there was no limit to how far I would go for Sydney. I would have done anything if it meant saving her, and judging by the knowing look in Jackie's eyes, she could read the answer in my eyes—without me having to say a word. What would I have done to save Sydney? Well, the answer to that was simple: absolutely _anything_.


	7. Chapter 7

"You've got to be kidding me!" My voice was a mix of amusement and incredulity—and frankly, utter disbelief—as I stared at the rundown, ramshackle building standing before me. It was old and rickety, made of old logs that had darkened with decay and weakened significantly over time, and I swore I could practically see the wood rotting away before my very eyes with each passing second. I just seriously hoped we weren't in store for any high winds or anything, because it looked as if this building was just a light breeze away from blowing away.

"This is no Alchemist institution," I said, narrowing my eyes accusingly at Marcus. "Come on, man, I've seen sleazy strip clubs more fitting to an Alchemist than this slophole. Seriously, I'm getting the clap off this building just from looking at it."

My eyes were fixated on the building, and I was met with a deafening, conspicuous silence that alerted me to the bluntness of my words. I glanced around and saw Rose casting me a sharp look, appalled that I'd even go there—but I could've sworn I caught the slightest hint of amusement hidden in the depths of her eyes. She thought my comment was funny, though she never would've admitted to it. Dimitri's face was schooled to that guardian mask of neutrality that he excelled at, not giving anything away, though I knew that he, too, was properly shocked by my words. The smallest of smirks twitched at Jackie's lips, and Abe made no attempt to cover up his amusement. Marcus, on the other hand, was clearly disgusted by the metaphor, and he scowled at me in response.

"What?" I asked innocently, playing oblivious.

"You, of all people, should know that outside appearances can be deceiving, Ivashkov," Marcus retorted, not even bothering to acknowledge my earlier comment.

I opened my mouth to protest, all ready with a snarky comeback of my own, but he quickly continued on before I could throw in my two cents. "It's an illusion," he explained, with a sharp, pointed look in my direction. "A spell cast over the building to make it look like some old, abandoned factory that no one would have any interest in exploring further. Only a select few know what really goes on inside those walls—what those menacing walls really contain."

"How in the hell do they pull off an illusion of that magnitude?" Rose demanded, looking grudgingly impressed. "The Alchemists might be resourceful, but that's kind of pushing it—even for them, isn't it?"

"Sweetheart, what we don't know about the inner workings of the Alchemy world could fill a book," Marcus addressed Rose, and she made a face at the term of endearment, but in a great show of restraint, she swallowed back any biting comments. Marcus, seemingly oblivious to Rose's irritation, reconsidered his words. "Hell, there aren't enough books in the world to contain all those dirty little secrets."

"Mm, fascinating," I murmured, clenching my jaw in agitation. "But, uh...if you don't mind, I'd say we have far more pressing matters here, wouldn't you agree? What do you say we focus on breaking Sydney out now and investigate the illicit secrets of the Alchemists later? Sydney has to be our priority; we can't lose sight of that. We have to get her out right now."

"Agreed," Rose said, returning to the task at hand and snapping back to guardian mode. "All right, then...So, what's the plan, Adrian?"

I regarded her with a dry smile, eager to get going on my plan and go storming in there and tear apart some Alchemists. And looking at Rose now, I could see that eagerness mirrored in her, and I could see that this rescue mission was just as personal for her as it was for me. "My plan is quite simple, really:" A wry glint filled my eyes with my next words. "Divide and conquer."

And then we did.

Before leaving Court, Lissa and Sonya had graciously pooled their efforts to create illusion charms for Rose, Dimitri, and Abe, so that nobody would recognize them. Jackie claimed that she was taken care of, having her own magical means to mask her true appearance, and I didn't question her further. I figured she knew what she was doing, and so long as everyone here was wearing different faces, none of us could be implicated in the break-in.

That meant that Marcus and I took priority for my magic, so I made sure the former Alchemist stayed firmly by my side so that I could obscure our appearances to the best of my ability. Once our appearances had been altered to my satisfaction, we each set off to our respective locations, and I was surprised to find myself breathing a silent prayer to whoever was listening out there that this mission would go as smoothly as we hoped and that we would get Sydney out without any trouble.

But of course, we should be so lucky.

Marcus and I entered the front entrance, posing as fellow superior Alchemists that were coming to inspect the "prisoner" and "assess her progress for the official records". And as it turned out, Marcus was right about appearances being deceiving. We walked into that front door, and upon passing the threshold, it was like being sucked into a vortex to another dimension, another reality altogether. It took every ounce of strength I possessed to keep walking and to not react to the startling contrast.

We walked into a clean, sterile space resembling the waiting room of a psych ward that was all white from top to bottom—the walls, the ceiling, the desk centered in the room, and even the woman staffing that front desk was clothed in all white. Looking around in awe, I had to resist the urge to stop and remove my shoes for the fear of tracking in dirt from outside. Honestly, if heaven were to have an administrative office, this is exactly what I would imagine it looking like.

The woman staffing the desk looked up at our approach and offered a small pleasant—albeit, a tight, almost forced—smile. "Can I help you?"

Marcus offered up a curt nod and spared only the smallest of glances toward me before turning his attention toward the woman, since he knew what would be expected in this situation and what should be said to grant us entrance. "Yes, hello, Marilyn. It's a pleasure to see you again."

The woman—Marilyn, apparently—blinked in astonishment. "Do I know you?" she asked uncertainly.

Just like that, like flipping a switch, Marcus turned on the charm and turned his own captivating smile on the woman. "Not officially, no," he said. "But I remember seeing you quite some time back, several years ago, when you were just a little budding seedling starting out in the Alchemists."

I didn't know if that was entirely accurate, but the woman certainly seemed young enough to have only been active in the Alchemist business for a couple years, not looking much older than Sydney. She had raven black hair, pulled back into a slick ponytail, and looked like it was doused in hairspray and gel to keep even the smallest stray hairs in place. She had chocolate brown eyes and a gorgeous bronze complexion that even I could admire. She wore black-rimmed glasses, looking very much like a librarian. But when she rose and I saw a white lab coat with her name: Dr. Marilyn Valdez embroidered in elegant cursive lettering on the fabric, I immediately dismissed that comparison.

"I see," she said, her eyes flicking back and forth between our faces, her eyes lingering on our cheeks, where she hopefully saw the golden lily tattoos that would identify us as fellow Alchemists—if my illusion spell was playing itself out properly, that is. "And you are?"

"A doctor, just like yourself," he told her winningly. "Dr. Ronald Bates," he added, without missing a beat, no doubt calling on one of his many aliases that he used to get by in this world gone wrong. "And this here," he gestured to me, "is my associate—"

"Jet," I interjected, before Marcus could give me some god-awful name from his repertoire. I much preferred utilizing my own aliases here, considering the circumstances. "Jet Steele."

Marcus looked like he had to repress the urge to roll his eyes, but he managed to maintain his composure and carried on as if it made total sense that we would be here. "Our superiors have dispatched us to assess the prisoner in holding cell three, Sydney Sage. Orders have been issued for me to provide a psychological evaluation for Miss Sage and determine what went wrong with her, ah...loyalties."

Marilyn looked slightly confused by Marcus' words, but she wasn't exactly screaming: "intruder!" quite yet. "Really?" she asked, peering down at the computer before her and flipping through several screens before glancing down at some files sitting on the desk's surface. "I've received no verbal or written instructions to that end," she added, still buying this as a clerical error on one of her colleagues' parts. "Would you mind telling me who sent you?"

"Jared Sage," Marcus replied, quickly coming up with the name of someone who would be interested in this case. "The prisoner's father has requested that we perform an extensive analysis on her current mental state and report back to him immediately on our findings."

"Mr. Sage was just in here the other day to see her progress for himself," Marilyn said, her confusion growing even more. "He was briefed on all psychological and physical assessments that have been conducted on her since her admission to this institution. I can't imagine there's anything in regards to his daughter's case that he doesn't already know."

"Yes, well," Marcus returned, sounding rather bored with this woman—like she was some insignificant child taking up his valuable time. "You know as well as I do that Mr. Sage is very thorough, and while he might appreciate and respect your efforts to help his daughter, he wants another opinion, just to either confirm or deny what has already been determined. He wants someone he trusts to run the analysis, someone that can directly report the findings back to him."

Marilyn looked rather insulted by Marcus' unspoken presumption that nobody else here would do a thorough enough job running the assessment. "Are you suggesting that the people working here are not capable of running the necessary tests?" she demanded, indignantly.

"What I am saying," Marcus snapped, his face perfectly schooled to that Alchemist look of superiority and arrogance, "is that I have been given a job to do, and you are wasting my time here, arguing semantics. Are you really going to deny me access, when Jared Sage has issued the orders himself for me to personally run these tests on his daughter?"

"Of course not," she said, that fake smile plastered on her lips as she reached for the phone. "I'm just going to call and confirm these orders with Jared, if that's all right with you—"

"We don't have time for this," I snapped, pushing my way past Marcus and putting myself directly in Marilyn's line of sight. I fixed my gaze on her, hard and commanding, and—leaving no room for arguments or resistance—I offered up the command, making my voice as sweet and cajoling as possible in my current agitated state. "Put down the phone," I ordered. "Now."

My voice was silky smooth, and Marilyn paused, her eyes glazing over as the compulsion sunk in. Her body locked up, seemingly frozen in space, and just for a second, it looked as if she might resist the command. But eventually, the command made its way through to her, and she slowly lowered the phone and hung it up.

"Very good," I said. "Now, take us to Sydney Sage's cell."

"Why on earth would I—?"

"_Do it_!" I interjected, and her face relaxed into total compliance as she completely succumbed to the throes of my compulsion. "Make sure that we won't run into anybody."

She nodded wordlessly and then retrieved her employee key card that would grant us entrance past the giant metal door that was behind her.

"Dr. Bates," I said, keeping my eyes locked on Marilyn so that she wouldn't break free of my compulsion. "You stay here and make sure the surveillance system has a convenient malfunction for about the next twenty minutes or so, at least. Disable it as quickly as you can, and then get the hell out of here. We'll take it from here."

"But I wanna help—"

"No!" I snapped. "There's nothing more you can do for us. Your job here is done. Do your part and then get out of here. Everyone else will meet up with you when they're done, and they'll make sure you get out of here okay."

"Okay," he said finally, in a small voice. I knew he wasn't happy about his role in all of this, and he wanted to do more to help, but I couldn't risk him getting caught. This rescue mission fell to me now, and I wasn't going to let anyone else take the fall here.

While we had been conversing, Marilyn had swiped her card and gotten the door leading to the cells open. She then stood aside and waited for me to follow her inside before closing the door behind us. The door slammed shut with a loud clang, and I winced at the loud noise it made, but otherwise stayed focused on the task at hand.

Marilyn began leading me through a brightly lit corridor with white walls, mirroring that front room perfectly, again giving me that sense of walking right into a psych ward. I almost expected to see the Alchemist prisoners chained to the walls and crying out in agony while the Alchemists literally cracked their whip. Instead, being led through this sterile, dead silent environment was almost scarier than all the lashings and screams in the world ever could be. _It's amazing_, I thought, _how terrifying utter silence can be, given the right circumstances_.

I shuddered at that thought, but otherwise maintained my cool, determined exterior as I was led even further into the Alchemist compound. "Stop," I cried out suddenly, and my guide immediately halted in her tracks and mechanically turned to face me. I grimaced at how dutifully she complied with my requests, the sure fire sign of just how effective my compulsion could be when utilized to its full capacity. It killed me to resort to this and remove another person's will so that I could enforce my own will upon them, but Sydney was far too important, and I couldn't get caught up in the logistics of morality right now.

I had called for us to stop, though, because up around the next corner Marilyn was leading me around, I could sense three auras approaching, no doubt some Alchemist douche bags that were here striving for world domination. I caught hold of Marilyn's upper arm, my fingers biting in hard, and she winced at the pressure, but otherwise kept that complacent, glazed-over look of someone being compelled to complete docility. "Not this way," I told her, keeping my voice pitched low so that the newcomers hopefully wouldn't hear me. "There are people heading this way, and I don't want them to see me here. Take me another way. Now."

Without another word, Marilyn spun on her heel and began leading me in another direction. I kept my hand on her arm and picked up my pace so that we could hopefully avoid more Alchemist eyes. There were a lot of twists and turns, and I hoped I would remember how to get out of here once I found Sydney. We walked on without incident for about five minutes straight, and then, we happened upon another large metal door with a key code that had the words: "WARNING: AUTHORIZED PERSONELL ONLY. ENTERING PRISONER HOLDING CELLS 1-5."

My heart rate picked up into overtime with the realization that I was almost there. Only a door or two stood in the way of me and Sydney being reunited once more. _Oh, God,_ I thought eagerly. _This is it, this is it_. Marilyn opened the door with a quick swipe of her card, along with punching in a key code that was about twenty digits long. Dear God, how could anyone remember a series of numbers that long? With my superior Moroi vision, I saw her punch in the numbers: 839483... and then I lost track of where it went from there. Her fingers moved fast and furious along the keypad, until at last, a beep signaled that the correct code had been entered and the light flashed green, granting us access to this so-called restricted area.

As soon as the door swung open, we happened upon the sounds of fighting issuing from about thirty feet or so ahead of us, as well as someone fast approaching off to the right of us. A flash of light ahead of us signaled that Jackie was making her way toward us and using her magic to fight her way through to Sydney. Unfortunately, as soon as I entered the dark and dingy corridor, I was met with a mini-army of Alchemists that were apparently ready and waiting for me. There must have been some silent, immediate alert system that was sent out as soon as my accomplices had broken into the compound.

"Marilyn!" One of the Alchemists shouted angrily at the woman standing beside me, still under the full throes of my compulsion. "What do you think you're—oh, my God! It's one of _them_!" the man yelled, managing to convey fifty shades of disgust and revulsion in that one word. He immediately rushed me, while his colleagues began drawing out automatic weapons, thinking of much simpler—and frankly, faster—ways of dealing with this problem.

Fortunately for me, while I might not have been an athlete or had the reflexes of a dhampir by any stretch of the imagination, I did manage to retain the training I had gained from Wolfe, the man who had taught Sydney and me basic self-defense, and calling on every ounce of that training now and summoning up all my strength, I threw myself into battle mode and easily evaded the man's attempt to grab me. Instead of getting my hands dirty, though, I simply stepped aside—my reflexes much faster than any human's could ever be—so that the man coming at me wound up slamming into Marilyn instead. He came at her with such force that they wound up stumbling into the corridor on the opposite side of the metal door, and I didn't waste a moment in slamming the door behind them so that they couldn't get to me.

I think the other three Alchemists there would have attacked me, if not for the fact that Rose and Jackie had reached us, and suddenly, they were deemed the new threat. One of the Alchemists—a woman with blonde hair chopped crudely into a pixie cut—aimed her gun at Jackie, but Jackie waved her hand in a delicate maneuver that flung the gun from the Alchemist's hands, and then Rose took over and lunged forward and punched the woman. The woman staggered back from the impact and let out a small cry, but otherwise maintained her cool Alchemist exterior and attempted to respond in kind by delivering a blow of her own. Jackie worked her magic again, and suddenly, the woman collapsed to the ground—her legs suddenly becoming jelly—and she clutched desperately at her head and began crying out deliriously. I didn't know what the hell Jackie did to her, and frankly, I didn't care.

Because at that point, I saw a man sneaking up behind Jackie, raising his gun so that he knock Jackie unconscious with it. And I couldn't let that happen. "Jackie, look out!" I cried, making her whip around frantically and catch the blow on her shoulder instead of her skull. "No!" I made to lunge toward her, but she still had a few tricks up her sleeve and she cried out an incantation that Sydney had once told me about that caused the target of the spell to go blind temporarily. The man cried out and Jackie responded in kind to his temporary distraction by delivering a solid blow to his abdomen that I never would've thought her capable of.

At that point, I noticed that Rose was battling two Alchemists—a man and woman—both of whom kept trying to get the jump on her, but if they had known her even a little bit, they would've realized how futile their attempts were. Rose's attention was more focused on the man, who kept trying to renew his attack and catch her by surprise, but honestly, he was seconds away from being rendered unconscious. I knew that. But it didn't make me any less nervous when he went to attack her at the same time that the woman drew out a gun and aimed it at the back of Rose's head.

"NO!" I shouted, lunging for the woman and knocking the gun out of her hand. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one packing weapons and I saw the man Rose was fighting use the moment of distraction to draw his own gun on her...at the same time that Dimitri had entered the fray. Dimitri charged forward and yelled: "Roza!", throwing her against the wall and shielding her body with his own right as the gunshot sounded. I saw the bullet barely graze the fabric of the bottom of his duster, but he didn't even seem to register it. His attention was fixed solely on Rose and making sure she was uninjured.

I noticed then that the man was trying to get off another shot, while Rose and Dimitri were distracted, so I cried out a warning to them, even as I lunged for the man and knocked him to the ground in an elaborate maneuver, rendering him unconscious myself. Rose and Dimitri turned to face me, their eyes nearly bugging out of their skulls at this very uncharacteristic act of violence on my part. "You're welcome," I said dryly. My chest rose and fell rapidly with each forced gasp of air I took, but I had no time to calm myself down, because it was at that point that the woman had recovered her gun and was now aiming it at me. Apparently, it was my lucky day, though, because I spotted the gun from the man lying on the floor and I lunged for it, aiming it at the woman and firing off a shot that took her shoulder. She cried out at the agony of the bullet penetrating her skin and collapsed to the ground, clutching her shoulder and fixing me with a look of pure hatred.

Before I could even muster a response, I was suddenly being tackled by new Alchemists that had entered the scene—one flanking me on either side—and before I could respond to their attack, I was being tackled against one of the cell doors, my face right up against the window looking into the cell. I pushed back against my captors, struggling to break free of their hold on me, but I suddenly froze up when I recognized a familiar blonde figure sitting inside the cell I was facing, with her knees drawn up to her chest and her head resting against her knees, her hair spilling over her face, partially obscuring her features. But I didn't need to see her face to recognize Sydney. I knew her by heart: every line, every curve, every last detail that marked her as my Sydney...and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was looking at her right now.

"Sydney..." I murmured, my voice catching with the realization that I had made it. I was here. I was so caught up in the whirlwind of my own thoughts that I didn't even notice that my captors had been ripped away from me and were now getting their asses kicked by two of the best guardians in the world. "You deal with them," I ordered, not even knowing if anyone had heard me, much less if they processed my words. "I'm getting her the hell out of here."

I immediately went to open the door, but naturally, it was locked. Not that I should've expected anything less. Damn it. I glanced around frantically for some means to open the door and help came in the surprising form of Abe. "Here, allow me," he declared, holding up a set of keys that he had no doubt swiped from some Alchemist guard here. He casually stepped forward and inserted the keys into the lock at random until he found the correct key to unlock this cell. While experimenting with the keys, he glanced casually in through the window and assessed Sydney's condition from here. "Huh. Looks like our girl has really been put through the ringer these past few weeks," he observed. "Wouldn't you agree?"

It took me a moment to remember that Sydney was sitting in there, still naked and malnourished, courtesy of the Alchemists, and that didn't sit well with me. "Hey, don't look at her!" I snapped, glaring at Abe accusingly.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he chuckled. "And there you are!"

I flung the door open without another word and crossed the few steps separating Sydney and me within seconds. "Sydney!" I crouched down beside her and she slowly, reluctantly lifted her to meet my gaze. "Hey." A small, pained smile twitched at my lips as I reached forward to brush the unruly strands of hair that had fallen forward back behind her ear. "There's my girl."

"Adrian?" Sydney spoke my name uncertainly, like she couldn't believe I was actually here. Not that I could blame her. I almost couldn't believe it myself.

"Yes," I said gently. "It's me. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I assessed her for physical injury and noticed several scrapes and bruises, but nothing too severe. Honestly, those looked like they were caused more from malnourishment and crawling around and bumping into things around here than anything else.

"Adrian." Realization dawned on her, and her eyes lit up with the first spark of life I had seen in a long, long time. "You're here. You're here? You came for me?"

Pain distorted my features as I took in her response. "Of course I came for you, Sage," I told her, slightly insulted that she even had to ask that question. "I told you I was coming. I told you I'd get you out of here."

"But how did you—? You mean, it was real? Those last two spirit dreams? I thought they were fake, the Alchemists—they would thrust me into simulated spirit dreams, making me think I was actually seeing you, but I wasn't. Not really. But those last two times were real?"

"Yes, that last one was real," I assured her, not sure what she was referring to about the second dream. "I told you I was coming for you, and here I am. I would never give up on you, Sydney, I'd never let you stay in this godforsaken place."

She flinched at my words and her eyes widened with realization. "That...wasn't the last one. That was the first one." She sounded so confused, it broke my heart. "The last one was you—or future you—telling me that we made it out okay and go on to have a life together. It couldn't possibly be real, though, so I thought it was just wishful thinking, but you swore...he swore it was real. That it was some vision or something that he—or you—can tap into in the future to prepare me for what was to come."

My blood ran cold with those words, with the realization that she apparently had the same second spirit dream that I had. I thought that was just me going crazy, but if she had the exact same dream with three years from now me...well, maybe it wasn't as far-fetched as I initially thought.

"It doesn't matter," I said frantically. "We'll talk about it later. Look, we have to go now."

She nodded and wrapped her arms delicately around my neck, using me as support as she scrambled to her feet. Her legs gave way beneath her, though, and she collapsed, unable to make her limbs work properly. "Sydney!" Panic raced through me, as I tried to figure out what was wrong. "What is it? What's the matter?"

"The drugs..." she murmured, looking to me desperately for help. "They've kept me drugged...between that and no food, I can't...I don't...I can't walk. I can't move. I can't function. I can't do anything...I'm too weak."

"You," I declared, "are the farthest thing from weak, Sage. Believe you me, you are without a doubt the strongest person I've ever met. Don't worry, I'll make it better. I'll make it go away." I swept her up in my arms and cupped her face in one of my hands, fixing my gaze on hers and sending as much spirit as I could muster into her, feeling the healing magic work its way through her to negate the effects of the drugs and bring her back to full health.

"Adrian, no," she cried weakly. "No, please. Don't. Not on me. Don't waste it on me."

"Do not argue with me," I said adamantly. "Too late, it's already done. I'll do more later, but for now, we have to go." I realized then that she was still naked, and I didn't exactly want her to be flaunted in this condition. I quickly removed my jacket and wrapped it around her. Since she was so much shorter than me, it fell to about her mid-thigh, but we'd have to get her real clothes eventually.

I made to walk out of there with her, but she tightly fisted her hands around the fabric of my T-shirt and shook her head frantically. "No, wait! Not yet. We can't go. Not without my necklace."

"Necklace?" I asked, knitting my eyebrows together in confusion. "What necklace?"

She reached out and grabbed hold of the necklace I had given her when she had lost her gold cross necklace, her most prized possession, thanks to my stunning charm when we'd found ourselves in a rather compromising position while investigating Alicia DeGraw, the evil sorceress that had been after Sydney. Now, I liked to think the necklace I bought her was her new most prized possession, and a warm, swelling feeling rose up in my chest with the realization that she refused to leave it behind.

"Okay," she said at last, offering me a small, weak smile. "Let's get the hell out of here."

By the time we made it out of the cell, Rose and Dimitri had already dealt with all the Alchemists that had come down on them and cleared the way for us to escape. They both assessed Sydney with that look of guardian efficiency to make sure she wasn't injured, similar to the assessment I had given her, and then I offered up a curt nod, letting them know we were good to go.

"All right," I said, "let's get out of here. You guys watch my back, make sure no one follows us."

And then, without another word, we tore out of there, Rose and Jackie in front of us and Dimitri and Abe behind us, and after what felt like a lifetime, we managed to escape the compound and made our way to our respective cars with no additional encounters. That didn't mean we were even remotely safe, though. It was only a matter of time before this got out, and I wasn't taking anything for granted.

I took Sydney to our car and gently set her in the passenger seat before scurrying over to the driver side. I got in and noticed that Rose and Dimitri were still standing nearby to make sure we got in the car and away from the compound okay. I rolled down Sydney's window so that they could see for themselves that she was okay.

"Hey. Sydney," Rose said kindly, offering her a warm smile. "You gonna be okay?"

Sydney nodded and somehow mustered a small smile for Rose. "I'll be fine. Everything will be okay now. And I have you to thank for that. Both of you." She looked at Dimitri with those words and he offered her a nod of acknowledgment, his lips twitching into the smallest of smiles for her.

"It was nothing," Rose instantly assured her, "nothing at all. You would've done the same thing for us. Hell, you _have _done the same thing for us," she added, earning a small chuckle from Sydney. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this, Sydney, and I promise you that you will never go through anything like that ever again. You have my word. We're going to do everything in our power to hide you and protect you from the Alchemists."

Sydney surprised me by reaching over and clasping my hand in her own. "I know you will," she said. "And I appreciate that. Thank you so much, Rose, for everything you've done for me. If it weren't for you, I never would've had the courage to stand up to them, to my father...I'd still be a part of some corrupt organization that's looking to tear your people apart. So thank you. Thank you for saving me from that."

Rose gave her a small, wry smile, ever the advocate for rebelling against the system. "You bet. Anytime you ever need help rebelling from some organization that wants to use and abuse you, you give me a call, and I will be right to help you kick some ass. You can count on it."

Sydney's smile was more genuine this time. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

Rose leaned in the car to give Sydney a hug, squeezing her tight and closing her eyes in relief. "You guys be safe, okay? Keep in touch, and if you ever need anything, let me know. You both have my number."

At that point, Dimitri touched Rose's arm, a sense of urgency filling him. "Rose," he said, a note of warning in his voice. "We should let them go. The Alchemists are going to have the authorities here within minutes, and we need to make sure none of us are anywhere near here when they arrive."

Rose nodded her understanding and offered us both another sad smile. "Okay. Bye, guys."

"Not bye," I reminded her. "See you later. Remember?"

"Ah, right," she said, an amused glint covering the worry concealed in her eyes. "How could I forget? See you later."

We exchanged a few more parting words, and then I floored the gas and got us away from the compound as fast as possible. The car was filled with unbearable tension as we fled the compound, but slowly, it faded away the further we got from the Alchemists. Within minutes, we hit the freeway, and I made it a point to go at least fifteen over the speed limit for as long as I could get away with.

When we were approaching the border to Mexico, we swung by a small store and stocked up on lots of food and even several changes of clothes for Sydney. Before leaving the store, I grabbed Sydney's hand and said, "We probably shouldn't cross the border with you in this condition." I gestured to my coat, which she was still wearing. "It might be rather conspicuous. I suggest putting some clothes on to reduce suspicion at the border."

She nodded her agreement. "That's a good idea." She made to walk off toward the women's bathroom, but I shook my head and inclined my head toward the family bathroom.

"I'd much prefer not to let you out of my sight," I said truthfully. "Change in here, that way I can keep an eye on you. Also..." I pulled a T-shirt out of one of the bags I was carrying, one that she knew well. The purple T-shirt I had made for her with the heart design on it. "I have just the shirt for you to wear."

Emotion flickered in Sydney's eyes, and I knew she was using every ounce of her strength not to cry. "Adrian..." she murmured, blinking back tears. "I can't believe you actually got that for me."

"Not just that," I told her, earning a confused look from her. I reached into my shirt and removed my necklace that had Hopper on it.

"Hopper!" she said, her eyes glinting with relief and utter joy at the sight of our dragon love child. "You actually kept him all this time?"

"Of course I did!" I said, indignantly. "No way would I abandon Hopper to the wolves. That'd be just cruel. And...I know for a fact that he missed his mommy." I leaned in to whisper that last part conspiratorially in her ear.

She laughed. "I'm sure he did." She took him from my hand, and then clasped my other hand in her free one. "Come on," she said. "We should probably take him somewhere private to bring him to life here."

We walked into the family bathroom and the second the door was closed, Sydney instantly let my jacket drop to the ground and then reached for one of the bags to pull out a pair of jeans. My eyes lingered appreciatively on her perfect form, though, basking in that contact I had long missed. My God. Even malnourished and with her ribs practically protruding out of her body, she was still so agonizingly gorgeous that it was like someone was plunging a dagger into my gut.

"What?" she asked, noticing my gaze and sounding rather nervous with the realization that she was standing before me, completely nude, completely vulnerable. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because you're still so beautiful, even after everything..." I broke off and shook my head, at a complete and total loss for words. "It's amazing, really. God, I've just missed you so much."

She smiled. "I've missed you too. You have no idea how hard that was for me."

A sad smile played at my lips. "I think I might have the slightest clue as to how hard that was." My gaze once again swept her hungrily from head to toe, taking in every last inch of her glory, and I shook my head again, but this time, it was out of sadness. "My God...I'm so sorry, Sage. What they did to you, that's just awful...but to deprive you of food for so long, that is unforgivable. I suppose it's a good thing we're going to Mexico...because I'm gonna make sure to load you up on all kinds of Mexican food. No worries. We have so many choices, with barbacoa, menudo, guisado...we're gonna eat til we fall into a food coma. And with all that grease, we'll get your figure back in no time."

She grimaced. "Ugh, God, Adrian no! I'm willing to eat food and get back to a perfectly healthy weight, one day at a time...but that is way too much grease for me. I'm not starving myself purposely anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna go off on eating binges just to get back to a normal body weight."

"We'll just see," I said, offering her a broad smile when she turned to roll her eyes at me. She slipped on her jeans and the T-shirt and then began walking towards me with Hopper sitting in her palm in his statue form.

"I'm not..." she said uncertainly, "I'm not actually sure I can do this. The drugs affected my magic, I'm not sure I can actually revert him back."

"If it works like vampiric magic, then the drugs are out of your system, and your magic should be unaffected in the long term," I told her. "You should be fine."

She stood right before me and held her palm out so I could see Hopper too. Then, slowly, tentatively, she brought her hand up and gently touched Hopper's inert form. She muttered the Latin incantation that always brought him to life, and sure enough, the stone creature stirred to life, transforming into the little scaly dragon we both knew and loved.

Hopper's eyes flitted over and met mine and Sydney's gaze, adoration radiating off the creature. "Hey, little guy," I said, with a small smile, reaching out to lightly brush my fingers along his scaly back. "Look who's back. Did you miss your loving mother as much as I did?"

Hopper fixed that beady gaze on Sydney and that adoration grew by leaps and bounds. If baby dragons could smile or give giant bear hugs, something told me he would've definitely given her one, no questions asked. Sydney offered him a small smile, and words seemed to escape her as she reached out to pet him as well.

"I did it," she murmured softly. "I can't believe I did it—" Her words cut off abruptly as her fingers brushed mine, and a small gasp escaped her at that mere contact.

"I knew you could do it," I told her, as her gaze met mine. I thought I had never seen a look so full of love and affection as Hopper had gazed at Sydney, but I instantly knew I was wrong as Sydney's gaze met mine, and I could see just how much she loved me. "You're Sydney Sage," I reminded her. "There's nothing in this world you can't do."

She laughed and shook her head. "Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that...but uh, we should probably get going. There's no telling how far reaching the Alchemist's influence travels out here, and I don't wanna risk getting caught again."

I definitely couldn't argue with that, and within minutes, we were leaving that store—after having switched cars, of course, so that we could make sure that no one knew what car we crossed the border in. Once across the border, we'd buy a different car that the Alchemists would have no way of knowing about, since we would buy it under fake names.

We spent about an hour on the road before we finally happened across the border, and at this point, Sydney was well enough to be in the driver seat—after I had made her stuff her face full of food until _I _was satisfied she had eaten enough, of course. I figured since she spoke Spanish, she'd be our best best for crossing the border. Luckily, there weren't too many cars in line, and once we reached the check station, Sydney rolled down the window and to speak to the border patrol agent manning this window. The man looked into the car, his gaze flitting between her and me, and he rattled off something in Spanish that sounded curious and friendly, to which Sydney responded with an equally friendly comment. The man seemed surprised that she spoke Spanish, but she spoke the language so flawlessly, that he waved her on without any further questioning.

Once we cleared the station, I couldn't help but ask, "What did he say?"

"He asked: 'What brings you kids to Mexico?'" she replied.

"I see," I said, a little curious about the wry glint playing in her eyes. "And what did you tell him?"

Smirking, Sydney turned briefly to cast me an amused, knowing glance. "What do you think I told him? Beaches and margaritas, of course!"


End file.
